Warriors: A Brewing Storm
by WarriorsErin
Summary: ON TEMPORARY HIATUS!
1. Allegiances

Warriors: A Brewing Storm

Rated 9+/ 13+ because of the battles and injuries all warrior books include

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER= Blossomstar- light brown, white and grey shecat with blue eyes

DEPUTY=Aspenleaf- orange tom with green eyes, apprentice Fuzzypaw

MEDICINE CAT=Silvercloud-dark grey shecat with amber eyes

WARRIORS=

Stormheart- grey tom with blue eyes- apprentice Fawnpaw

Nightwing-black and gray tabby tom with grey eyes, apprentice Sandpaw

Pinesap-light brown tom with dark black stripes and pale blue eyes, apprentice Tuftpaw

Cloudsong-silver dappled shecat

Flickerbreeze- grey tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Sunleaf-golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes, apprentice Dawnpaw

Branchleap- brown tom with black marks and blue eyes

Summerheart- golden and ginger shecat with green eyes

Redspring- russet tom with blue eyes

Shadepelt- dark grey shecat with teal eyes

APPRENTICES=

Sandpaw- pale ginger shecat with green eyes

Dawnpaw- dark brown shecat with amber eyes

Tuftpaw- silver and white tom with grey eyes

Fuzzypaw- silver and grey tom with grey eyes

Fawnpaw- light brown gingery shecat with blue eyes

QUEENS=

Frostflake- white shecat with amber eyes- kits Sparkkit, Honeykit and Fallkit- mother to Sunleaf's kits

Dewshine- grey with darker flecks shecat with blue eyes- kits Silverkit, Alpinekit and Ashkit-mother to Pinesap's kits

Dappleheart- dappled shecat with green eyes- kits Shimmerkit and Sparrowkit-mother to Nightwing's kits

Diamondsky- creamy shecat with brown eyes- kits expected- expecting Stormheart's kits

Alpinekit- light grey tom with pale blue eyes

Ashkit-light grey tom with darker flecks and blue eyes

Silverkit- light grey shecat with darker flecks and green eyes

Sparkkit- flame ginger tom with green eyes

Honeykit- ginger shecat with green eyes

Fallkit- black, ginger and white tom with green eyes

Shimmerkit- black shecat with green eyes

Sparrowkit- brown tom with blue eyes

ELDERS=

Streamheart- silvery grey tom with bright blue eyes

Brightspirit- White and ginger striped shecat with teal eyes

Fernshade- Black shecat with green eyes

Russetpelt-dark reddish tom with brown eyes

RIVERCLAN

LEADER=Willowstar- light grey shecat with white socks and lightest blue eyes

DEPUTY=Carppelt- black tom with white hairs around amber eyes

MEDICINE CAT= Frozenriver- Whitish-blue shecat with dark blue eyes

WARRIORS=

Pikejaw- light russet and brown tom with brown eyes

Lakesong- light silver shecat with violet eyes, apprentice Brightpaw

Reedwhisper- red tom with blue eyes, apprentice Streampaw

Rustlefur- grey and white patched tom with teal eyes, apprentice Minnowpaw

Bramblethorn-brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Waterrush- light grey and black speckled shecat with turquiose eyes

Iceclaw_ white shecat with grey eyes

Mudpelt- brown and black tom with green eyes

Stonefur- grey and silver tom with blue eyes

Mistheart- lightest gray shecat with purple eyes, apprentice Sagepaw

Sunsheen- golden shecat with white paws and amber eyes

Dapplesnow- white and black dappled shecat with violet eyes, apprentice Stormpaw

APPRENTICES=

Brightpaw-ginger and white shecat with blue eyes

Stormpaw- dark and light grey tom with white patches and amber eyes

Minnowpaw-silver and black shecat with green eyes MinnowxStream

Sagepaw- white and silver tom with green eyes

Streampaw- golden tom with grey blue patches and blue eyes

QUEENS

Dawnheart- cream and white shecat with golden eyes-mother to Reedwhisper's kits= Ripplekit and Rapidkit

Twilightgaze- black and silver shecat with blue eyes- mother to Rustlefur's kits= Moonkit, Mintkit and Meadowkit

Silverflower- silvery white shecat with green eyes- expecting Stonefur's kits

Ripplekit- red tom with golden eyes

Rapidkit- cream and white shecat with blue eyes

Mintkit- black and silver shecat with teal eyes

Meadowkit- grey and white patched shecat with green eyes

Moonkit- grey and white patched shecat with teal eyes

ELDERS

Ashheart- dark grey tom with yellow eyes

Lilyripple- Ginger and brown shecat with blue eyes

Bloomfeather- white, grey, black shecat with green eyes

WINDCLAN

LEADER=Heatherstar- purple cream shecat with blue eyes

DEPUTY=Grassflower- lightest blue grey shecat with green eyes, apprentice Flightpaw

MEDICINE CAT=Wispyfeather- light silver and grey tom with yellow eyes

WARRIORS

Hawkfeather- brown and white tom with yellow eyes

Tallfoot- white and black tom with amber eyes, apprentice Starlingpaw

Wrenflight- grey shecat with blue eyes

Hopheart- black tom with green eyes, apprentice Rockpaw

Cloudflight- white shecat with amber eyes

Rabbitkick- brown shecat with blue eyes

Harerunner- light brown shecat with amber eyes, apprentice Boltpaw

Sandburn- golden tom with blue eyes

Raincloud- dark grey shecat with black flecks and dark blue eyes, apprentice Springpaw

Flickerwhisk- white and light grey shecat with green eyes, apprentice Leafpaw

Patchpelt- black and white tom with yellow eyes

APPRENTICES

Rockpaw- dark grey tom with blue eyes

Boltpaw- golden and ginger tom with green eyes

Springpaw - light grey shecat with green eyes

Leafpaw- light grey shecat with dark grey tips to her ears and green eyes

Starlingpaw- dark grey tom with amber eyes

Flightpaw- white and ginger tom with amber eyes

QUEENS

Frostheart- expecting Sandburn's kits- white and grey shecat with blue eyes

Slidestep- expecting Hopheart's kits- dark grey shecat with black paws and green eyes

Meadowslip- ginger shecat with green eyes- mother to Tallfoot's kits- Whiskerkit, Burnkit and Breezekit

Paleripple- pale silver and light grey shecat with blue eyes- mother to Patchpelt's kits- Stormkit, Pebblekit and Sunkit

Poolbird- dark grey with white tipped ears shecat with dark blue eyes- expecting Hawkfeather's kits

Stormkit- pale silver and light grey tom with yellow eyes

Pebblekit- black and white tom with blue eyes

Sunkit- pale silver and light grey shecat with blue eyes

Whiskerkit- ginger tom with amber eyes

Burnkit- ginger tom with green eyes

Breezekit- black and white shecat with green eyes

ELDERS

Tawnymoon- ginger, black and grey shecat with green eyes

Whiskerstorm- grey tom with black tipped ears and blue eyes

Shootfire- ginger tom with amber eyes

Stormrumble- light grey shecat with darker patches, black ears and green eyes

Hillrunner- light grey shecat with green eyes

Gorsemoon- brown and grey tom with blue eyes

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER= Pinestar- brown and ginger tom with blue eyes

DEPUTY= Bogleaf- grey tom with brown eyes

MEDICINE CAT= Sprucestorm- brown and grey tom with icy blue eyes

WARRIORS

Frogleap- grey tom with golden eyes

Icyfrost- white shecat with blue eyes- Featherpaw

Snowheart- white and grey shecat with amber eyes

Runningwing- light brown tom with yellow eyes

Blizzardheart- white shecat with green eyes- apprentice Eclipsepaw

Streamice- ginger tom with blue eyes- apprentice Nettlepaw

Dapplesun- golden shecat with blue eyes- apprentice Icepaw

Lightleap- light grey and brown shecat with grey eyes- apprentice Crunchpaw

Seedpelt- brown shecat with green eyes

Longstorm- grey tom with black paws and blue eyes

Bubblefire- ginger shecat with teal eyes- apprentice Sleetpaw

Conemoon- white and black tom with blue eyes

Nightpelt- black tom with green eyes

Ravenfur- black tom with amber eyes

Crowcall- black tom with blue eyes

APPRENTICES

Nettlepaw- grey tom with blue eyes

Eclipsepaw- black shecat with amber eyes

Crunchpaw- white tom with green eyes

Sleetpaw- grey shecat with blue eyes

Icepaw- ginger shecat with icy blue eyes

Featherpaw- cream and ginger shecat with white and ear tips and paws with grey dots and green eyes

QUEENS

Kinktail- white and black and grey shecat with grey eyes- mother to Longstorm's kits- Shadekit, Cloudkit, Sandkit and Crystalkit

Dawnfrost- cream shecat with blue eyes- mother to Streamice's kits- Lakekit, Duskkit, and Frostkit

Sapheart- light and dark brown and grey shecat with green eyes- expecting Pinestar's kits

Blazingpetal- white and cream shecat with pinky blue eyes- expecting Ravenfur's kits

Lakekit- cream shecat with light blue eyes

Duskkit- ginger shecat with blue eyes

Frostkit- ginger and cream shecat with dark blue eyes

Shadekit- white, grey and black shecat with grey eyes

Cloudkit- white, grey and black tom with blue eyes

Sandkit- grey shecat with black paws and blue eyes

Crystalkit- grey shecat with black paws and grey eyes

ELDERS

Thistleleaf- white and grey tom with green eyes

Moonfall- black tom with white spots and blue eyes

Sunpelt- golden shecat with amber eyes

Crescentrain- ginger shecat with grey eyes

These cats are mostly my own characters, and any relation to other people's cats is a coincidence. I have borrowed some names from Erin Hunter and one of my heroes, Sandfire, but other than that I have tried to make each cat unique.

-WarriorsErin

P.S I have made the territories a mix of the lake and forest territories as my own territories, so sorry if you are confused!


	2. Prologue

I have school, and I'm in Y7, so the updates won't be that frequent. I-really-hope-not, don't worry, I plan on making more chapters, and finishing the book, hopefully there will be three!

Prologue

Three cats sat by the lake, illuminated by starlight and the moon. There were no clouds in the sky, and they could see the warriors of Silverpelt spread out over the midnight sky. 'Blossomstar, StarClan have told me something.' mewed the silver cat on the left of the center cat. 'Yes Silvercloud, what may it be? I can tell you are anxious.' the white, grey and brown shecat replied. 'Should I tell Aspenleaf?' Silvercloud wondered, speaking about the only cat left, an orangey ginger tom with sparkling green eyes, who looked like he was carved from stone, he hadn't moved. 'I should think so. The future leader of ThunderClan will have to hear this if he is to lead one day.' Blossomstar meowed solemnly. 'Speak Silvercloud. I don't mind.' spoke the ginger tom for the first time, finally moving his head towards Silvercloud. 'O-ok then.' Silvercloud stuttered. Suddenly her eyes started to glow, and the light of the moon and stars combined seemed to twinkle in her fur, turning her fur a pure white colour. 'What is happening! Blossomstar!' mewed Aspenleaf, who had clearly no idea what was happening. 'Calm down. It's StarClan sending a prophecy. We have to listen closely, for they will only speak once.' Blossomstar and her words of wisdom calmed Aspenleaf down, and he listened curiously and intently as Silvercloud started to speak.

'Soon, a storm will come

With enough water to wash ThunderClan away

A spark will rise to save you all

With the moon shining beside it.'

Silvercloud gasped, her eyes returning to their normal colour, before mewing. 'This was etched into the stone years ago, when Firestar entered the forest, and the Clans' paws were set into the steps that they walk now.'

'So, my great, great, great, great, great grandfather was not only part of two prophecies, he was the one who set this in place.' meowed Aspenleaf, in shock.

'Yes, it turns out he had a much bigger piece to play in the puzzle of the Clans' future.' meowed Blossomstar. Up above, in the territory of StarClan, nine cats nodded to one another before slipping off into the forests.


	3. Chapter 2

I checked this before I posted it, so if there are any mistakes, I am sorry. I will also try to put the date of the release on the story, so you can tell if you need to do something with it. Date 8.3.2017

-WarriorsErin

Chapter One

Alpinekit

Alpinekit could hear voices. His siblings, Ashkit and Silverkit were busy rubbing his fur and continually asking the same question. 'Open your eyes Alpinekit! Please?'

'Come on, it's fine. There are so many things to see, and you can only play with us if you open your eyes! Dewshine promised us!' mewed his sister Silverkit pleadingly.

'Yeah, come on Alpinekit, it's awesome out here! I also want to see his eye colour.' his brother Ashkit encouraged, with half of his question directed to Alpinekit and the other half directed to Silverkit. With a grunt, Alpinekit opened his eyes. ' Look, Dewshine, Alpinekit's opened his eyes!' alerted Dappleheart. Oh, now I've interupted Dewshine and Dappleheart's conversation. Thought Alpinekit. 'Hey, Alpinekit, it's ok. Do you want to play with my kits, Shimmerkit and Sparrowkit? They have been waiting for you all morning!' distracted Dappleheart. 'Oh, wow, Dewshine, look at his eyes!'

'They're pale blue, like mine, but lighter!' mewed Dewshine. Alpinekit wanted to go and play with Shimmerkit and Sparrowkit, and so did his littermates, who were quivering behind him in excitement. He was the same height as Ashkit, but taller than Silverkit, who was only just a bit smaller but slimmer than him. 'Yes please! Dewshine, please?' the trio chorused. They all looked up at Dewshine pleadingly. 'All right, fine. But you have to be careful, and try not to annoy the older cats, ok?'

'Yes Dewshine, we promise!' purred Ashkit, Alpinekit and Silverkit. The group of kits bounded outside joyfully, purring with delight. Alpinekit screwed his eyes up at the light that was so much more brighter than the dim nursery lighting. Everything was glowing, but slowly dimming as his eyes adapted. Finally, when all of the sparkling had gone away, he took in the big world of the camp. His eyes were spread so wide, Shimmerkit and Sparrowkit noticed instantly and ran over. Shimmerkit's glossy black pelt shone in the newleaf sun, and Sparrowkit's blue eyes matched the colour of the cloudless sky. 'Hey there! You're Alpinekit, Ashkit and Silverkit, right?' enquired Shimmerkit.

'Umm, yeah, how do you know? By the way, you're Shimmerkit with the black pelt, and you are Sparrowkit with the brown pelt?' asked Ashkit.

'Yeah, I guess Dappleheart and Dewshine told you, right?' replied Sparrowkit.

'Yes, do you want to play a game?' asked Silverkit.

'Yep, let's play mossball.' answered Shimmerkit.

'Ooohh, yes, let's play. Wait, what is mossball?' asked Ashkit.

'Silly, it's a game that you play with others and a ball of moss, and you have to try to keep it off the ground for as long as you can working with other kits.' answered Shimmerkit, her green eyes gleaming with amuesement. 'Sounds great! Let's play.' dared Silverkit. Suddenly a yowl pierced the air. 'OH, OH. SOMEBODY HELP ME!' Dappleheart exploded from the nursery, meowing loudly over her shoulder. ' Keep the kits away!' Dappleheart ran right into the medicine cat den, and the five kits could hear her speaking very quickly to the Clan's medicine cat, Silvercloud. 'Kits, Frostflake, NOW.' Silvercloud burst out of the den and pelted over to the nursery, with Dappleheart at her shoulder. ' Tell Sunleaf his kits are coming.' Silvercloud called over at the kits, briefly pausing at the entrance to the nursery before going in when another painstricken yelp emitted from inside. Dewshine padded out quietly and calmly, and arrived at the kits. Speaking to her own bewildered kits, she said, 'Don't worry, it's only Frostflake having her kits.'

'Oh' meowed Silverkit, thinking of three bundles of fur that were in the nursery. ' Is Frostflake the white one?'

'Yes, Silverkit, good guessing.' replied Dewshine, proud of her clever daughter.

'We've heard this happen before, but we forgot to tell you, and Dewshine told you before we did.' said Sparrowkit. 'When I become an apprentice, I want to become a medicine cat, just like Silvercloud.'

'Oh, really Sparrowkit? I don't know what it's like, but if you want to, do it.' replied Dewshine. 'C'mon kits, we have to go to the elders den, so Frostflake will have enough space. And, if you're good, maybe Streamheart will tell you a story.'

'But we have to tell Sunleaf that the kits are coming, Dappleheart told us so!' answered the kits, a bit confused. 'I'll do that, you five go to the elders den, and soon you will have some more playmates.' reassured Dewshine. The collection of kits bounded happily away, excited to hear some stories from ThunderClan's best storyteller, Streamheart.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

Dewshine

As Dewshine bounded away, she could hear the kits' squeaks as they ran up to the elders den. She searched for Sunleaf, but bumped into Redspring, a russet coloured tom. He was looking a bit sad, so Dewshine decided to cheer him up by asking him to go take care of the kits and make sure they didn't try to escape from camp, even though deep in her heart she knew that the five were good enough and young enough not to think of sneaking out. However, the eldest three kits were missing, probably out with Roseheart who had been missing from her den since sun-high, being shown around the ravine. 'Hey Redspring!' she called.

'Oh, umm, hey there Dewshine!' Redspring replied, with a soft smile spreading over his snout. 'I was wondering, because Frostflake is having her kits in the nursery, do you mind looking after the others and making sure that they don't escape?'

'Oh, wow, thanks! Are they Dappleheart and your kits?' he questioned.

'Yeah, mine were born two days ago, and Dappleheart's five days ago, but in the night.' she answered. 'Wow, so Frostflake's are coming now, and Diamondsky's in three days! That is incredible!' Redspring mewed, amazed.

'Do you know where Sunleaf is? I need to tell him about his kits.' asked Dewshine.

'Yep, he's at the apprentices den, telling Dawnpaw his plans for his assessment check tomorrow.' replied Redspring. 'I'd better be off, and I don't mind helping now and then.'

'Bye!' Dewshine meowed as Redspring took off, haring across the clearing. He's a really nice cat. I wonder what was bothering him…

She purred. If the kits tried to escape and explore the forest, Redspring would stop them, or Streamheart, or Sparrowkit. Even though the kit was so young, she knew he had the wisdom of an elder. She pelted towards the apprentices den, before yowling outside. 'SUNLEAF, YOUR KITS ARE COMING!' Sunleaf burst from the apprentice den, leaving Dewshine to tell Dawnpaw everything. Then Dewshine ran off, following Sunleaf, to make sure he didn't interrupt Silvercloud.

Alpinekit

' And that is how Bramblestar, the leader of ThunderClan after Firestar, changed the warrior code.' Streamheart finished his story. Redspring, Ashkit, Silverkit,Alpinekit, Shimmerkit, Sparrowkit, Brightspirit, Fernshade and Russetpelt had been listening silently, and as Streamaheart's voice faded away, everybody let out a sigh of regret. 'That story was so good, it almost made me want to be an apprentice again just so I can hear those fabulous stories again.' Redspring mewed, his voice misty. Everybody suddenly yawned. 'The thing is, they are so good, they make me feel so sleepy, so that I can watch all those events happen right under my nose.' Everybody decided to have a long nap, so they could remember Streamheart's story for as long as they lived. Redspring mewed, 'Do you mind if me and the kits take a nap here with you, because of Frostflake's kits coming?'

'Of course. There's nothing nicer than sleeping with the youngest and a warrior of ThunderClan after a long story. And the oldest ones are probably asleep in the apprentices den tonight.' They all agreed with Streamheart. After a while, everybody was asleep, even Redspring. All of them had a lovely long sleep, even Fernshade, who was known to have bad dreams. Their peace was disturbed when Dewshine padded into the den and woke everybody up, to give them some news. 'Frostflake's kits have arrived, and Sunleaf and her have named them. There were three kits, two toms and a shecat. One of the toms was a patched one, with black, white and ginger patches, the other two were ginger. The ginger tom looks just like Firestar from the tales, and the ginger shecat looks just like Sandstorm, but slightly darker. I think that's because of Sunleaf, you know, him, Aspenleaf, Dawnpaw and Sandpaw are their descendants, but Dawnpaw doesn't look like them, she looks like Leafpool. Anyway, they have been asleep for a while now, so I think it would be fine if the kits moved back into the nursery, and Redspring into the warrior's den.'

'Awww! Redspring's awesome! Can't he stay!' mewed all the kits in disappointment.

'Hmm, let's go see the kits, and then we'll see whether you can stay here with Streamheart, Brightspirit, Fernshade, Russetpelt, and maybe Redspring, if Aspenleaf says so, ok kits?' mewed Dewshine back, trying to lift everyone's spirits up.

All the cats in the den started to move. Dewshine lead the way, and behind her were the kits clustering around Redspring, and behind and around the kits were the elders. It was greenleaf, so it wasn't cold. In fact it was nice and warm, and you could see all of the warriors of Silverpelt looking down on them all. Dewshine had reached the nursery, so she shoved her head in, and made her way towards Sunleaf and Frostflake, who seemed to be both asleep. As the group approached, easily able to fit into the newly expanded nursery, Sunleaf raised his head. 'Oh, hi Dewshine, Redspring, Brightspirit, Russetpelt, Streamheart, Fernshade and kits. Do you want me to show you the kits?' Sunleaf asked.

'Yes please.' everybody spoke, hushed and quiet so they wouldn't wake anybody up.

'This one is Sparkkit,' Sunleaf was pointing towards the only ginger tom. 'This one is Fallkit,' Now he was guesturing towards the patched tom. 'And this one is my only daughter, Honeykit.' He was showing everybody the last kit, a pale ginger shecat.

'Oh wow!' mewed everyone.

'Is there space for these five kits to sleep here along with Redspring and me?' asked Dewshine. 'I think so, but it might be a tight squeeze. Try it, but if it's too tight, I suggest you, Dewshine to stay here, and Redspring, the kits and the elders to sleep in the elders den if that's alright with you.' replied Sunleaf.

' I think we'll just stay in the elders den, but thanks Sunleaf.' The group shuffled out again, saying a quick goodbye to Dewshine, Sunleaf and Dappleheart. ' Wait, where is Diamondsky?' questioned Streamheart.

'Oh. She's in the medicine cat den. Silvercloud didn't want the kit jumping on her in the elders den, because that might make her kits come earlier, and that would be a big risk.' replied Sunleaf.

'Ok, bye then!' They all trotted back to the elders den, with Redspring rejoining them after going to ask Aspenleaf whether he was allowed to sleep with the kits. He had left when the group had started to get out of the nursery. They all arrived back at the den sleepy, and Redspring curled himself around the sleeping kits before falling asleep with the other fully grown cats.

A/N By the way, I have a friend who is writing as well. Her book is called Spirits Above, so check it out if you want to read more warriors! Date 8.3.2017. I am trying to update quite a lot today, I have quite a lot of chapters ready, so just be patient!

-WarriorsErin


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Redspring

The next morning, Redspring woke up early, and whispered to Fernshade, who was also up, to tell the kits that he was doing some warrior duties and he would be back in the afternoon. He trotted up to Aspenleaf and mewed 'Can I hunt? The fresh-kill pile is looking a little low for greenleaf. And with more kits coming, we'll need more prey than ever.'

'Why, yes Redspring. In fact I was about to call you to go on a hunting patrol near Sunningrocks with Summerheart and Flickerbreeze.' meowed Aspenleaf, looking a bit surprised. 'Now, for another hunting patrol, can I have Nightwing, Cloudsong and Branchleap. Nightwing, can you bring Sandpaw along as well? Oh and for the border patrol on the WindClan border, may I have Pinesap, with your apprentice Tuftpaw, Cloudsong, and I'll come with Fuzzypaw. Sunleaf and Stormheart, can you take your apprentices and do some battle training followed by a hunting challenge between them both. For the ShadowClan border patrol, can….' Redspring walked away, after listening for a while, towards Summerheart and Flickerbreeze. 'C'mon, let's go!' mewed Flickerbreeze, who never seemed to run out of energy. 'Excuse me, but I need Shadepelt to help me gather some herbs, but maybe it's time for those eight kits, not the ones that were just born, of course, but the others, to come with me to help me pick herbs. Do you mind asking Shadepelt to stay here just in case the kits can't come?' asked Silvercloud, who looked tired and worn out from helping with the kitting last night. 'I'll go tell Shadepelt, Sumerheart, go ask Dewshine and Dappleheart. You need to have some fresh-kill, Silvercloud. It's fine for you to take some because some hunting patrols have just headed out.' replied Redspring, who was eager to help. Away Redspring and Summerheart bounded, and Redspring headed to the warriors den to find Shadepelt, who was having some extra sleep. Summerheart headed to the nursery, where the two queens were stationed, taking care of Frostflake and Diamondsky, who had heaved herself and her too-round belly into the nursery. Diamondsky was currently a huge sleeping mound of fur in the nursery with Dappleheart licking her distended stomach. Diamonsky had worn herself out carrying herself and her belly full of kits towards the nursery. Her belly was so large, Silvercloud expected her kits to come very soon. However, Roseheart was the complete opposite. In fact, she was moving out of the nursery very soon, when her kits became apprentices. Redspring burst into the warriors den, interupting Shadepelt, who was grooming her pelt calmly. He quickly told her that Silvercloud wanted her. 'Sure thing, Redspring. I'll head over and wait for Summerheart to get back.' The two trotted back towards Flickerbreeze, who was stretching herself to get all the cramps out of her body. 'Silvercloud told me that the five youngest kits, the ones that weren't just born, of course, were allowed to go out with her to pick herbs.'

Summerheart was lying beside her, with her eyes closed in bliss as the sun warmed her golden pelt. 'I'm so sorry Shadepelt for dragging you here for no reason.' Redspring apologized. 'It's fine, and I can start the day now, finally. I'll stay here and help the elders sort out the herbs and clean out the old moss in the elders den. I'm looking forward to hearing Streamheart's stories again.' Shadepelt replied.

'Streamheart told me and some of the kits the story about Bramblestar and the flood, to pass the time during Frostflake's kitting.' Redspring told her. 'It was really good!'

'I love that story, but I'll go now, I seem to be holding up your patrol! Bye Redspring, Summerheart and Flickerbreeze! Enjoy your hunt!' Shadepelt called. The patrol finally started off towards Sunningrocks.

Alpinekit

Meanwhile, with Silvercloud, the kits were all bounding up and down, but not Sparrowkit. Sparrowkit was saving his energy for when he really needed it, finding the herbs. 'Ok kits, if you misbehave, you will be sent home and you won't EVER come with me into the forest again, and I mean forever. We need to find raspberry leaves, dandelion leaves, lavender, borage and catmint. Also chervil, cobwebs, coltsfoot, ginger, if we find any. I'll go with Ashkit, Shimmerkit and Alpinekit, and Sparrowkit, you go with Silverkit, and I know you want to become a medicine cat apprentice, so you can learn some things now. I want you to go behind us and search for catmint, chervil, coltsfoot and ginger. We'll all look for cobwebs. Let's go!' Silvercloud led them towards a sunlit path that had bushes full of berries on either side, and the purple catmint flowers and the bright yellow flowers of coltsfoot a contrast to the greens and browns of the forest. Red raspberry plants were growing next to the trees at the end of the path. Silvercloud spoke, hushedly, to preserve the peace of the path. 'This is my favourite herb collecting area in ThunderClan territory. Be careful not to take too much, because this area will become very precious to ThunderClan in leaf-bare.' They then went on herb gathering in silence, with a few mews here and there. After a while, Silvercloud told them to return to camp, and they padded down into ravine into the hidden bramble camp. They walked into camp and headed towards the medicine cat den, where there was a sweet smell that caught the kits' noses. 'Hey, that matches your scent Silvercloud!' mewed Ashkit.  
'Yes, and do you know why little kits?' asked Silvercloud.

'Is it because you are a medicine cat?' guessed Alpinekit, who had listened to Softkit, Rainkit and Brookekit's talk about what they would like to be as apprentices. 'Excellent Alpinekit, how did you know?'  
'Oh, umm, I heard Softkit, Rainkit and Brookekit talking, and you collected herbs with us, so I just put two and two together, and had a lucky guess.' mewed Alpinekit honestly.

'Speaking of them, where are they anyway? I wanted to take them herb gathering, but they are old enough to explore just outside of camp, and are to be apprentices in a moon. They have to learn responsibility.' meowed Silvercloud. Her shining white ear tips caught the sun, and the group all went inside the den to drop off their herbs for Silvercloud. Everyone left except for Alpinekit and Sparrowkit. Sparrowkit was there for a much more different reason than Alpinekit. Sparrowkit wanted to help organize, while Alpinekit was tired, and rested, watching them bustle around together, relaxing in the warm greenleaf day. Soon, Alpinekit fell asleep. He started dreaming of when he was an apprentice, and when all of the kits would be there together. He snickered. There were going to be so many apprentices, he wondered whether Sandpaw and the others would become warriors before they became apprentices. After all, there weren't going to be enough warriors to mentor all the apprentices if Sandpaw and Dawnpaw and everyone else were still apprentices. Alpinekit started worrying. What if Blossomstar decided to keep the kits back, so there would be more warriors? He woke up, extremely worried now, and ran around until he found his father. Pinesap looked at him with an expression of amusement on his face. Alpinekit burst out his worries, and Pinesap replied, saying. 'Blossomstar wouldn't do that! She's much too smart! And she knows what it's like, having to be kept back. In fact, she was held back. So was Crookedstar, one of the finest leaders of RiverClan. Do you know, you can just go ask her yourself Alpinekit! I'll go with you, while Tuftpaw eats.'  
Alpinekit felt more relaxed now. His father always helped him with all of his fears, and gave him something to do to help conquer them. They happily trotted towards the leader's den, Alpinekit running, his short legs struggling to keep up with Pinesap's long but slow strides. Blossomstar was there, and told Alpinekit his fears were not true. In fact, Softkit, Rainkit, and Brookekit would be apprenticed in half a moon from now, and Tuftpaw, Fawnpaw, Dawnpaw, Sandpaw and Fuzzypaw would become warriors in half a moon as well. The other kits would be apprenticed in another six moons. So Pinesap was right, once again. Alpinekit trusted his father very much, and went to sleep that night happy and comforted.

Sorry this chapter's line breaks were weird. I just found out you could make single line breaks, and well, I had been copying and pasting from a doc, so it came out a bit crazy. I promise the next one will be better!  
-WarriorsErin


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Stormpaw

Stormpaw was up early, just after the dawn patrol had gone to check RiverClan's territory boundaries. He had decided to groom his pelt, as he knew that he hadn't cleaned his fur in a few days. He glanced over at Minnowpaw and Sagepaw, who were curled up together in a large reed nest. He sighed softly, so he wouldn't wake the others. The two eldest apprentices were almost at the end of their apprenticeship, as they had been training for a moon and a half. He also knew that Ripplekit and Rapidkit were almost ready for their apprenticeship, and Stormpaw himself still had two moons to go! Him and his siblings, Streampaw and Brightpaw were to help Minnowpaw and Sagepaw in their training by attacking them for the battle assessment. As well as that, the remaining apprentices were going to have to prepare for their assessment at the same time. Just then, Iceclaw, his mentor shoved her head and shoulders into the den. Her whiskers twitched right in front of Stormpaw's face, and he jumped back, startled. 'Wow, who's up early today?' she teased. 'Looks like 'paws are not ready for the assessment today!' Iceclaw trilled.  
'Huh?! Wait! I wanna become a warrior!' mewed an extremely sleepy Sagepaw. Stormpaw and Iceclaw took one look at him and burst out purring. They were so loud, Minnowpaw, Streampaw and Brightpaw were shocked awake. 'C'mon 'paws! Mistheart, Rustlefur and Lakesong have been waiting outside for you sleepy heads to wake up! It's time for the assessment!'  
'What?! I thought their assessment was in half a moon!' mewed Brightpaw.  
'Nah, Willowstar thought it would be better for them to come to the Gathering in three nights as new warriors, instead of waiting a whole moon longer. But Mintkit, Meadowkit, and Moonkit aren't becoming 'paws for another quarter moon.' replied Rustlefur, his voice sharp, even though it was muffled by the interwoven reeds that formed the den. He was obviously impatient for the assessment to begin. Minnowpaw was his second apprentice, Stormpaw guessed he wanted her to be as good as his former apprentice, Sunsheen, had been. Mistheart was also Sunsheen's sister, but it had been a few moons until the next litter of kits, Minnowpaw and Sagepaw, had become apprentices, and Mistheart was the Clan's best fighter, along with Willowstar and Bramblethorn. The cats all walked out of the den, and were bombarded with a flurry of questions from their mentors. 'Uh, we were sleeping so we would be energized for our assessment.' mewed Sagepaw and Minnowpaw, who were both still sleepy and were blinking dozily at the rising sun. 'Wake up, wake up!' chanted Streampaw, Brightpaw, and Stormpaw, who were taking delight in annoying the two older apprentices until they were angry and ready for their assessment, for even though they seemed like the group weren't friends, they were all friendly towards each other and didn't want Minnowpaw and Sagepaw to fail. 'Hey, stop acting like kits just out of their den and seeing the camp for the first time' scolded Mistheart. 'They've got enough on their minds with the assessment today!'  
'It's ok Mistheart.' mewed Minnowpaw. 'Me and Sagepaw told them to do that so we would be ready for their assessment.'  
'Well, that's fine. Isn't it Mistheart?' spoke Rustlefur, casting a look at her. Stormpaw also knew why Mistheart was scolding left and right. Sagepaw is her first apprentice, so she wants him to be the best he can possibly be. Stormpaw sat back, pleased that his watch-and-learn attitude had helped him quite a lot in his training and also proven useful many times that day. Unfortunately, Stormpaw sat on his tail with a thump as he sat down, and he was still sore from Brightpaw whacked her paw on it the day before during battle training. 'OWWW!' yowled Stormpaw furiously. He should've known better than to sit on it, especially because it was bruised! The last time he had done that had been when he was a moon old. He sat there licking at his tail angrily, which made it hurt even more! Everyone, including Mistheart and Rustlefur, started purring until there were tears running down their faces. Stormpaw just glared at them, before making an image of him in his mind, and then burst out purring as well. 'C-come o-on! W-w-we still have t-to do th-the ass-assessment today!' meowed Iceclaw, who had trouble speaking because she was being racked with purrs. The group managed to drag themselves all the way to the training area, which was a large clearing with spring grass that had been trampled down by the generations of feet that had been there. All around the clearing were trees, except for one side. That side was bordered by the flowing, clear blue waters of the river. It was the perfect place for a training session. The apprentices could be taught to fish the silver flickering fish which lived in the river, and how to battle in all conditions. The willow trees were a perfect place for a pretend ambush, or a climbing lesson, and the foliage made a home for many types of prey that would feed RiverClan during the harsh, cold leaf-bares when the river was frozen and the ground white with frost and snow. Stormpaw could remember all this because when he was just half a moon old, he had seen the snowflakes and played in the deep, soft snow. He could remember sneaking out of the camp with Minnowpaw and Sagepaw, and his siblings when they were all kits. That had brought the five together. They had skated on the river, but now knew that it wasn't safe to go on it unless a warrior had tested it. 'OK! We are starting with the battle training. It will be split up into thirds, one third one-on-one, the next two-on-one, and the last mentors vs apprentices.' mewed Rustlefur. 'Just remember all your training and claws sheathed!'


	7. Chapter 6

'First shall be Sagepaw versus Minnowpaw!' mewed Mistheart.

'You should watch, you might pick up some tips for your own assessment.' hinted Iceclaw as she sat next to the three watchful apprentices, their tails curled around their paws neatly. Rustlefur and Mistheart sat on the lowest willow tree branch to marshall the match. 'Begin!' yowled Mistheart and Rustlefur. The oldest apprentices circled one another, then Sagepaw leaped. His gaze was aimed at Minnowpaw's shoulders, but she knew that trick too well to let Sagepaw get away with it. Instead she lay on her back, than kicked her hindlegs up viciously and strongly. Her hit connected, and sent Sagepaw flying. He lay on his back, winded, while Minnowpaw pinned him down. But she had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Sagepaw suddenly heaved up, catching Minnowpaw off guard, and flipped her over, now pinning her. However, Minnowpaw reacted quickly, and slid to the side before raking her soft paws through his flank while cuffing his head gently. Then she span quickly to try and whack Sagepaw away with her strong hindlegs, but Sagepaw saw the move coming, and flipped neatly above Minnowpaw, before landing behind her and dealing a hefty blow to her flank with his right paw. Minnowpaw was thrust over, and then pinned down by Sagepaw. She struggled and struggled, but Sagepaw had learnt from her earlier move to pin her hindlegs down. Rustlefur and Mistheart looked at each other, gave a nod, and Mistheart yowled, 'Sagepaw has won this round! Next round is Streampaw and Brightpaw vs Sagepaw!' Minnowpaw and Sagepaw got up, panting heavily from their impressive bout, and Minnowpaw went off to the sides with Sagepaw beside her. They each got a quick rest as all five mentors discussed if they had passed, or not. Sagepaw and Minnowpaw came back, both well rested, before Minnowpaw settled down next to Stormpaw's mentor, Iceclaw, and Sagepaw, Streampaw and Brightpaw faced one another. Suddenly, as if on cue, Streampaw and Brightpaw surged forward, and began cuffing Sagepaw's ears, and his flanks. Then Brightpaw leaped over Sagepaw's head, but Sagepaw balanced on his hindlegs, leapt forwards, landing on his forelegs, knocking Streampaw, who was on his back, off him. Then, using his momentum, he let his hindlegs be carried over his head, bent, and straightened them right into Brightpaw. She was hurled upwards, and Sagepaw quickly gave Streampaw, who had been dealing blows to Sagepaw's ears and nose, a hefty blow, sending him sprawling. Sagepaw quickly balanced on his hindlegs, his tail curled in around his left hindleg, and caught Brightpaw. She looked so surprised, Stormpaw couldn't help but give a muffled purr. Streampaw had caught his breath, and was sneaking up on Sagepaw, behind him, but Sagepaw sensed him coming, and whipped out his tail, catching Streampaw square in the face, before twirling around and dropping Brightpaw on top of him. Sagepaw then lay his wide paws down on his two opponents' shoulders and hindlegs, and waited for the victory call. Rustlefur this time, yowled, 'Sagepaw has won once again!' and Sagepaw, Brightpaw and Streampaw both padded away from the soft center to get a rest. Streampaw then went to have a drink, and Rustlefur announced once more, 'Streampaw and Stormpaw against Minnowpaw!' Stormpaw stretched, before joining Streampaw and Minnowpaw in the clearing. 'Can you guys just be careful of my tail? You know it still hurts.' Stormpaw quickly hissed across at the battlers. They both nodded, and when Iceclaw yowled the starting alarm, Stormpaw had snuck around the back of Minnowpaw, while Streampaw faced her head on, distracting her from Stormpaw. Minnowpaw's lashing tail was whipping back and forth behind her, and Stormpaw trained his eyes on it, before leaping and landing squarely on the tail. Minnowpaw screeched in shock and leapt forward, ripping her tail out of his grip and powering straight into Streampaw, who quickly acted. He dodged out of the way, and jumped onto Minnowpaw's back, and began to run his paws along her flanks and churn his hindpaws along her spine. Minnowpaw bucked, and threw Streampaw right into Stormpaw. She then leapt on the pile of apprentices and pinned them down, waiting for the victory alarm. 'Minnowpaw has won her fighting bout!' yowled Mistheart triumphantly. They padded over to the river, grabbing a drink of fresh river water, and Stormpaw was extremely proud of his amazing bite tail move. Unfortunately Minnowpaw had succeded very quickly, and Stormpaw didn't have a chance to show off his warrior moves. _But you did show off your battle tactic skill and your cleverness during battle!_ Thought Stormpaw. He waited at the bank for the next part of the assessment to be announced. The mentors gathered together quickly, before Rustlefur moved off into the tree to watch and give Minnowpaw a break. Mistheart and Sagepaw took the center. Sagepaw was almost as big as his mentor, while Minnowpaw was slightly smaller than him. Sagepaw's pelt rippled with his muscles as he tensed, gathering up his energy for the fight.


	8. Chapter 7

Sorry this scene is so long, and will last the rest of this chapter, but I want the first assessment to be described, so you know what it's like! Also I figured out how to do italics, so now you will know if it is a description, or a thought. Thanks to everyone who has read this story! Date 9.3.2017  
-WarriorsErin

'Begin!' yowled Rustlefur. Sagepaw leaped, and Mistheart thought that he was going to land on her back, and ducked. But that wasn't Sagepaw's aim. He sailed over her head, before landing on his forepaws and twisting around and yanking Mistheart's tai. However, instead of reacting like Minnowpaw had, Mistheart smoothly flipped backwards over Sagepaw's head, before landing with her tail safely behind her. Because of all the fish RiverClan ate, their fur was silky and glossy, and very, very slippery. So her tail just slid out of Sagepaw's grip because he wasn't using his claws. Mistheart then jumped quietly onto his back, and churned her paws along his spine, while batting his ears with her sheathed paws. She then leapt off, and shoved Sagepaw onto his side, before pinning him down. Almost instantly, Sagepaw went limp, knowing that he would lose, but Mistheart fell for the trick, and loosened her grip, thinking that he had given up. Sagepaw heaved himself up, and whacked her face with both of his forepaws, and then pinned her down. Struggling, Mistheart quickly realised that he wouldn't fall for the trick he had done on her, and stopped. Rustlefur yowled, and Sagepaw released Mistheart. She mewed to him, 'Good fight! You are going to be one of the best fighters the Clan has when you become a warrior!' Sagepaw looked delighted. 'Then I hope that my name has something to do with fighting! Maybe Sageslash? Well, I'll be happy to get my warrior name, no matter what it is!' Sagepaw grinned. Mistheart parted from Sagepaw, and Sagepaw whispered good luck to Minnowpaw. She trotted calmly into the center of the perfect grassy clearing and waited there for Rustlefur to come. Rustlefur exchanged a quick word with Mistheart, who had taken over his place as referee at the top of the tree, before leaping down and bounding over to Minnowpaw, who was sitting neatly and patiently waiting. Rustlefur nodded to her, probably thinking that it was his last fight with her when she is his apprentice, as she was having the warrior ceremony at sun set.

Mentor and apprentice circled each other, tails lashing, until Mistheart set of the fighting bout. They continued circling, until Rustlefur leaped over her head. Minnowpaw leaped up and head butted the soaring cat, causing him to be unbalanced, and he fell on his side. In an instant, Minnowpaw was there, raking her paws down his flank, back and legs, tearing at his tail, and cuffing his ears and head. Stormpaw saw her every move, and realised that she must be fighting as well as she could, because she had lost against Sagepaw, and Sagepaw had won every battle he had done so far that day, so she was proving that she was good enough to be a warrior. Finally, after exhuasting Rustlefur, who had been valiantly trying to block her well-aimed, strong, hard blows, with her tireless energy, she pinned him down. 'Minnowpaw has won!' Mistheart's yowl rang out over the silent air, and Minnowpaw released her mentor.  
'Well done Minnowpaw! That was excellent fighting! I forgot how strong your back legs are, and didn't think that you were going to be able to knock me off balance when I was jumping over your head!' Rustlefur congratulated. Minnowpaw's answer was a loud purr, she looked extremely happy. 'Now, time for the swimming exam!' mewed a deep voice. It was Reedwhisper. Streampaw bounded with joy, as he knew that Reedwhisper had seen him battle against the older apprentices, and would be proud of him, for Reedwhisper hadn't been there during the morning wake up call, like the other mentors. Streampaw had feared that Reedwhisper thought that he was a failure, and didn't want him as an apprentice. But it was now proved that Reedwhisper did care, and judging from the proud smile spread across his face, it showed that he cared quite a lot. A splash echoed behind the happy apprentice and mentor, and everyone turned to see what it was.

It turned out to be Minnowpaw, who loved the water, and had been fascinated by the clear depths full of flickering fish ever since she first saw it, frozen and dark in the leaf-bare cold. She was the best swimmer out of the five apprentices, and Rustlefur thought that she was the best in the Clan, even better than Willowstar, Lakesong and Carppelt! 'Wheee!' purred Minnowpaw in glee as she swam gracefully around the clear water. 'I think that your warrior name will be Minnowswimmer, Minnowwater, Minnowdrop, or Minnowrain, since you love the water so much!' teased Rustlefur.  
'Well, let's get on with the other assessments, before it's too late for the ceremony!' warned Mistheart goodnaturedly. SPLASH! Another splash was heard as Sagepaw jumped in too. SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! One by one, each apprentice and mentor jumped, or dived into the river to start the swimming assessment. It was the favourite of every single cat in RiverClan, for it was their special assessment, one that no other Clan has! Stormpaw was extremely proud of the RiverClan cats' ability to swim. _No other Clan can do it_. Stormpaw thought.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 5

Iceclaw

The river ran red and orange all around the reeds surrounding RiverClan camp. Iceclaw was sitting with her apprentice, eating a juicy carp. The clouds were a rosy pink, stark against the beautiful blue sky with streaks of pink. The sun was setting over the white mountains, turning them orange. Willowstar walked outside her den, the light outlining her fine figure. She yowled, just as Iceclaw was finishing her carp.

'All cats that are able to swim gather around the Waterrock for a Clan meeting!' Everybody quickly gathered, knowing that it was Sagepaw and Minnowpaw's warrior cats ceremony. The two apprentices in question stepped out from the reeds by the river, where they had been washing their fur and making themselves ready for their warrior ceremony. However, even after all their time practicing, Minnowpaw was quivering with excitement, while Sagepaw's claws kept on sliding in and out. Mistheart and Rustlefur sat proudly, letting the apprentices know that they had passed their assessment. Sagepaw had caught five trouts and two pikes, while Minnowpaw had caught four minnows, four pikes and four carp. In their land assessment, Minnowpaw had caught a sparrow, two mice and a water vole, while Sagepaw had proved himself to be better at fighting than hunting and swimming by only catching a robin and a squirrel. Iceclaw had just been eating one of Minnowpaw's carp. Iceclaw turned her gaze to Willowstar, who started speaking. 'I, Willowstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the way of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their own turn.' Willowstar looked down slowly from the glimmering stars of Silverpelt, to the two unnamed apprentices in front of her, before continuing to talk. ' Minnowpaw, Sagepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your own life?'  
Sagepaw and Minnowpaw replied without hesitation, 'I do!' Willowstar smiled, thinking of her own warrior ceremony, Iceclaw guessed.  
'Then by the powers of StarClan invested in me, I give you your warrior names. Sagepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Sagestrike. StarClan honours your strength and fighting skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan.' Willowstar rested her head on Sagestrike's shoulder, and Sagestrike licked her shoulder respectively. Sagestrike backed away and sat by his old mentor, Mistheart. Minnowpaw stepped forward. 'Minnowpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Minnowsplash. StarClan honours your swimming and hunting abilities, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan.' Willowstar rested her head on Minnowsplash's shoulder, and Minnowsplash licked her shoulder and backed away, sitting next to Rustlefur, her old mentor. 'SAGESTRIKE, MINNOWSPLASH, SAGESTRIKE, MINNOWSPLASH!' The Clan yowled their new names to StarClan, congratulating the newly named warriors. Stormpaw, Streampaw and Brightpaw didn't look jealous, instead, they were quite the opposite. They looked overjoyed for their old denmates.

Liked it? Date 10.3.2017  
-WarriorsErin


	10. Chapter 9

My story will have chapters with P.O.V.s from some cats from every single Clan, so you can see the different perspective of things. Oh, and don't think that you missed anything, I just forgot to break up some of the chapters and forgot to give them the right Chapter numbers.

Chapter 7

Springpaw

It was time for the Gathering! Springpaw was so happy, she thought that she might burst. 'Boltpaw, Flightpaw, Leafpaw we are going to the Gathering!' she mentor, Raincloud, playfully smacked her feathery tail against Springpaw's mouth. 'If you carry on like this, you will wake up everybody, and be sent back to the nursery!'  
'Oh.' Springpaw frowned, trying to guess whether Raincloud was joking or not. 'Sorry!' Boltpaw and his brother Flightpaw ran up to her, panting slightly.  
'We were on a late patrol, and Grassflower and Harerunner then made us to some night hunting for the Clan.' explained Flightpaw. Flightpaw and Boltpaw, Leafpaw and Springpaw were best friends, and did almost everything together. However, Springpaw's two brothers, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw, were not as nice. In fact, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw, her brothers, positively hated her.

When the six apprentices were kits, Boltpaw and Flightpaw were half a moon older, but were held back so that all of the kits could get their names at the same time. However, instead of being grateful towards the two brothers, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw were mean and cruel to them. They believed that Boltpaw and Flightpaw were weak and too afraid to become apprentices without the 'brave and strong' younger kits. Rockpaw and Starlingpaw always attacked Springpaw, Flightpaw, Boltpaw and Leafpaw for being friends with each other, and being weak. Leafpaw and Springpaw would stand up to their brothers, and bat at their faces with sheathed paws, even though their brothers were attacking with their claws out and making the other kits bleed. When Leafpaw and Springpaw stood up to them, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw would raise their paws to their faces, claws sheathed, and start whimpering and wailing for their mother and father, Wrenflight, and Loudstorm, who had died from greencough during leaf bare, two moons after the four kits had been born, and Wrenflight would be responsible for all six kits, since Frostheart and Sandburn were out doing warrior duties, or going for a would race over, and hiss at her two daughters, and then punish them, before grabbing Rockpaw and Starlingpaw, who were smiling triumphantly, and giving them to the medicine cat, who would say that there was nothing from with them. Rockpaw and Starlingpaw would complain, saying 'It hurts, Mommy, it hurts!' and Wrenflight would be mean to the medicine cat as well.

Springpaw shook her head, releasing her memories, and burying them back into her head. She was determined to enjoy her first Gathering, with her best friends, and her mother didn't own her now. Springpaw was her own cat, and could do whatever she wanted too. She bounced, and Leafpaw looked at her strangely. 'Heatherstar says the Gathering patrol is going now, and you don't listen, and when I say jump, you jump? You are really still a kit, aren't you.' Springpaw felt like Leafpaw was turning into Rockpaw when she saw the playful twinkle in her eyes. Springpaw lunged at her, and the sisters started scuffling. 'Break it up! Or you aren't going to the Gathering!' At the stern voice of the deputy of WindClan, also Grassflower, Flightpaw's mentor, Springpaw and Leafpaw sprang apart, their heads bowed in innocence, as they looked at Grassflower with meek eyes, but continuing to throw each other playful glances. 'I'm so glad Rockpaw and Starlingpaw aren't coming! They would make all the other Clans think that we are a bunch of arrogant stuck-up, hare-brained furballs with no sense of right and wrong and thinking that we are so awesome!' Leafpaw whispered to Boltpaw, Flightpaw and Springpaw. Springpaw couldn't muffle her purr, and it turned out that Flightpaw and Boltpaw couldn't either. Leafpaw looked confused, then realised what she had just mewed, and burst out purring. Grassflower and Harerunner looked at them, and Grassflower commented, 'First you were scuffling, and now you're laughing like best buddies? You apprentices are crazy!'  
'I know, right? I'm pretty sure we weren't like that when we were apprentices!'  
'Yup, the apprentices these days, can't control themselves, can they.' Grassflower replied to Harerunner, rolling her eyes. Both shecats turned away with a sniff. The four best friends turned to each other, and purred until they were shaking with mirth, and their bellies hurt, because the shecats' talk was so hare-brained! WindClan raced on, the wind buffeting their fur as they tore across the moor towards the tree-bridge, leading to the island housing the four greatest oaks in the lake. The Four Trees Gathering grounds.

By the way, can more people review because you can help improve the story. But this story has 70 views! Yay! Keep reading on for more information, I know there isn't really any 'trouble' but just wait. There might be more coming! Please read all the chapters. They will help you to understand the next chapter. Date 12.03.2017  
-WarriorsErin


	11. Chapter 10

Please, if you read this, please review. Reviewing means so much. If you want to be in my book, please just review.  
-WarriorsErin

Chapter 8

Springpaw

Nobody was there. Heatherstar was sniffing the tree-bridge and around it, and reported that they were the first ones there. 'I suggest that we walk over the bridge, because it's greenleaf, RiverClan could've just swam over, and that's why their scent wasn't there.' Springpaw and her friends overheard Grassflower and Heatherstar's conversation. She heard a sigh. Then Heatherstar began to speak. 'I know, I'm just wondering, what if something happened to the other Clans? I mean, I don't worry about them, or think that they are weak, but the warrior code suggests that we help the other Clans whenever they are in trouble. So, what if they are?'  
'I know, but don't you-' Grassflower was broken off by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, and Heatherstar and Grassflower burst from the bush. Springpaw, Leafpaw, Flightpaw and Boltpaw sprang back, so that the two shecats wouldn't notice that they were there, but they all fell over each other, and Heatherstar sent them an amused look.

'Greetings WindClan! We didn't expect you to be here this early! RiverClan told us that they were swimming over, and they told us to leave early to stop the other Clans from worrying! Sorry we were late!' mewed a kind and light mew. Heatherstar smiled.  
'It's fine, Blossomstar, don't be sorry! I honestly don't mind, and we suspected that RiverClan swam.' calmed Heatherstar, her violet eyes glimmering gently in the moonlight.  
'You go across, we'll wait for ShadowClan.' offered Blossomstar.

Springpaw glanced at her and immediatly thought,' _Wow, her name certainly suits her_.' Blossomstar had patches of white, grey, and brown all over her body, and they gave the impression of the cherry tree on the top of the gorge beside RiverClan.

'Move, will ya?' Springpaw was shoved by a tough shoulder. 'C'mon lazy flea-bag! Move, you're holding the whole line up! I can't believe that you are my daughter! Rockpaw and Starlingpaw should be warriors if all apprentices are like you bunch!' Springpaw rolled her eyes, but still felt sad inside. Wrenflight was behind her, shoving her carelessly. Springpaw was forced onto the bridge, when she was shoved roughly once again. Leafpaw and Boltpaw were on the other side of the bridge, looking at her with fearful eyes. A sharp pain caused Springpaw to stumble. Wrenflight had sliced her tail! Flightpaw turned back from his crossing at the sound of the slice and yowled to her 'Run, Springpaw! RUN!' Springpaw surged forward, on hyper alert. She knew Wrenflight was behind her with her claws out, about to slash her once again if Springpaw stopped.  
'Stop! STOP!' A voice interrupted Springpaw's concentration, and she ran even faster, her pads sheathed, dodging the flying branches as she raced over. Towards the end she slipped and lost her footing. She looked up, and saw the terrified face of Flightpaw as he looked down at her from the end of the bridge, and Wrenflight's claws glinting in the moonlight as she sneered down at Springpaw, and gave her a push that sent Springpaw toppling over the edge.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 9

Springpaw

Bubbles rushed past her as she sank, deeper and deeper into the cold, dark waters of the lake. ' _I have to swim! I have to live!'_ Springpaw thought desperately. She remembered when she saw a RiverClan warrior swim with her friends, her name was apparently Minnowpaw, splashing around in the river, going with the current…. ' _That's it!'_ Minnowpaw had churned her legs just like the way Springpaw ran when she did running training or races. Springpaw pretended that she was running in WindClan territory, racing Leafpaw to the training field. ' _Come on, come on!'_ Springpaw became more and more desperate for air as she swam upwards. She couldn't tell if she was near to the surface or not. Springpaw couldn't do it anymore. Her legs were aching, and her chest was trying to find air, but she was surrounded by water. ' _I'm going to die'_ She started to sink again, a pile of grey hair fading from view.

Stormpaw

Where was she, where was she?! The small WindClan apprentice had fallen over the end of the bridge and was going to drown. 'Where is she!' he muttered under his breath as he paddled onwards. He sighed. It was going to be nearly impossible to find her, she was grey, and there was no light except for the moon and stars. ' _I have to find her!'_ Stormpaw thought desperately. Suddenly the water underneath him began to quiver. There was something underneath him. ' _What if it is the apprentice!'_ No bubbles surfaced, and the water stopped moving. ' _She's there, she doesn't know how to swim!'_ he thought. A thread of fur touched his paw, and faded. Gasping in air, Stormpaw dove under, eyes slitted, as he dove deeper and deeper, determined to find the cat. ' _There!'_ A single bubble floated upwards, and through the haze of the night he saw the outline of a small shecat. Grabbing her scruff, Stormpaw began to swim strongly through the water, bringing the two cats up towards the air, and the rest of the Clans.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Springpaw

Springpaw sat down next to Flightpaw, who hadn't left her side since her drowning incident. Leafpaw and Boltpaw were bounding around, play swiping with each other when Springpaw heard some voices. "No! Don't! They won't want us around!" a voice asked tentatively.  
"You're a fox-heart Featherpaw, 'don't do this, don't do that!' We don't care what you think! I don't even know why you were chosen to have Icyfrost as a mentor! She's too good for you!" a scorning voice replied.  
"Uh. Hi?" asked Springpaw.  
"Come ON! Featherpaw, when we get back to camp, you will regret being so loud!" mewed the same unfeeling voice again.  
"Come out. NOW!" mewed Springpaw. Four cats stepped out from the brambles.  
"Wait. Aren't you kits?!" mewed Flightpaw in surprise.  
"Excuse me? YOU, thought that WE, were kits?! Well, we are definitely not kits, but FeatherKIT is!" the group of cats all high-pawed each other, except for the one shecat, who was left out. The shecat was beautiful, with sparkling green eyes, and grey tipped ears and paws. Her pelt was short and silky, cream, ginger, and white. Springpaw guessed that her name was Featherpaw, because Featherpaw was the one the three other cats were teasing.  
"H-hi." she stuttered. Springpaw smiled and nudged Flightpaw, who was glaring at the other cats that had hurt Featherpaw. Leafpaw and Boltpaw had come back and had started to whisper to one another.  
"Hi!" mewed Leafpaw and Boltpaw together.  
"I'm Flightpaw, she's Springpaw, the other shecat is her sister, Leafpaw, and the remaining tom is my brother, Boltpaw. We have been apprentices for half a moon. How about you?" mewed Flightpaw. Springpaw could tell it was very, very hard for him to stop himself from breaking the truce and lunging at the annoying apprentices. The leader of the three cats scoffed.

Chapter 12

Springpaw

"Uh, hey there. I'm Sleetpaw, this is my brother Crunchpaw, my sister Icepaw,and my other sister, Featherkit, oh I mean PAW! We're from ShadowClan!" Sleetpaw purred, along with Crunchpaw and Icepaw. Springpaw was taken aback. How could these, these fox-hearts, be related to this kind and beautiful shecat!  
"We've been apprentices for a quarter moon." meowed Icepaw, inspecting her claws. Leafpaw snorted. Springpaw completly agreed with her. These cats were massive hare-brains.  
"Hi there! My name is Sandpaw, and these are my sisters, Dawnpaw, and Fawnpaw." Sandpaw was a pale ginger shecat, Dawnpaw was a dark brown shecat, and their sister Fawnpaw was a light brown gingery shecat.  
"Hey!" mewed Dawnpaw.  
"Nice to meet you! We're from ThunderClan!" introduced Fawnpaw. Three more apprentices swaggered up. Springpaw faintly recognised the middle tom. He had saved her from drowning when Wrenflight pushed her off the tree-bridge. He had grey fur and lighter grey and white patches. His amber eyes met her green ones, and Springpaw looked away, suddenly shy.  
"Hey, it's you again. You're from RiverClan, aren't you?" mewed Boltpaw.

"Yup! These are my siblings, Brightpaw and Streampaw. And I am Stormpaw." Stormpaw gestured to each of his siblings as he introduced them. Brightpaw was the only shecat, and Streampaw was an unusual colour, gold and grey fur.  
"Thank you so much for saving Springpaw from drowning!" thanked Flightpaw. Stormpaw dipped his head, while Brightpaw pushed him playfully.  
"You never told us that you had found her! Fish-brain!" mewed Streampaw, congratulating him.  
"Hey there! Sandpaw, Dawnpaw, Fawnpaw, your mentors want you to come and stay with us." Two toms had arrived, one with grey and silver fur, while the second had white and silver fur.

"Thanks Tuftpaw, Fuzzypaw!" mewed Sandpaw, her melodical mew making Fuzzypaw smile. Sandpaw pressed herself against him and they walked away, with Dawnpaw and Fawnpaw pressed against one another, and Tuftpaw walking after them.  
"Wow, ThunderClan are a very weird bunch, aren't they?" commented Crunchpaw snootily. Springpaw started to pull her lips back in a snarl, but Flightpaw tapped her shoulder and she looked up, just as Heatherstar called the Gathering to a beginning.

"I will go first!" Heatherstar mewed, her violet eyes glinting. "We have six new apprentices, Springpaw, Leafpaw, Rockpaw, Starlingpaw, Boltpaw, and Flightpaw!" Springpaw puffed up her chest with pride, and saw her best friends doing the same. All four Clans chanted their names  
"Springpaw, Leafpaw, Rockpaw, Starlingpaw, Boltpaw, Flightpaw!"

"Unfortunately, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw have not come, but they will next time! Paleripple has given birth to Patchpelt's kits, Stormkit, Pebblekit and Sunkit. We have no new warriors. Willowstar." Heatherstar backed away, dipping her head respectively to a pretty gray shecat with blue eyes.

"Thank you Heatherstar! We have no new apprentices, but Twilightgaze has recently kitted Rustlefur's kits, Moonkit, Meadowkit and Mintkit! We have two new warriors, Minnowsplash and Sagestrike, and they are here tonight!"  
Springpaw craned her neck to spot the new warriors, and saw them instantly. Stormpaw and his siblings looked especially happy, and the Clans started to cheer the new warriors' names.

"Minnowsplash, Sagestrike!"

 _'So that was Minnowpaw, but she is a warrior now!_ ' thought Springpaw.

"That is all. Blossomstar?" mewed Willowstar, her voice carrying easily over the hot, still air.  
"ThunderClan is well. We have eight new kits, three litters. Sparrowkit, Shimmerkit, Alpinekit, Ashkit, Silverkit, Sparkkit, Honeykit and Fallkit. We have no new warriors or apprentices! Pinestar."

A brown and ginger tom stepped forward, his ice blue eyes raking the clearing. "We have four new apprentices, Sleetpaw, Icepaw, Crunchpaw and Featherpaw! We have four new warriors, Conemoon, Nightpelt, Ravenfur, Crowcall!" Springpaw knew who the apprentices were, but saw the new warriors. Conemoon was a black and white tom with blue eyes, while all his other siblings had plain black pelts with different markings. Nightpelt had green eyes, Ravenfur amber eyes and Crowcall blue eyes. They were all toms, and the three black pelted toms were almost identical except for their eyes.  
"Sleetpaw, Icepaw, Crunchpaw, Featherpaw, Conemoon, Nightpelt, Ravenfur, Crowcall!" yowled Springpaw and her friends.

"That is all. ShadowClan, we are leaving!" yowled Pinestar. The other Clans were left to mingle, and Springpaw ran back to her mentor along with her best friends.  
"WindClan we are leaving!" yowled Heatherstar.

Springpaw raced back over the moors, exhilaration flooding her pelt, but one image stayed in her mind. The RiverClan tom that had saved her life…. Springpaw shook her head and ran on. _'He's just a friend_ ' she thought.


	14. Chapter 13: The Ceremony

Chapter 13

Lakekit

"Eewwwwwww! Dawnfrost! We aren't kits anymore!" whined Lakekit. Dawnfrost ignored her and gave her one final lick, making Lakekit's fur gleam in the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the towering pine trees. "Now, do you remember Sleetpaw, Featherpaw, Icepaw and Crunchpaw's apprentice ceremony? Copy them exactly. Those four were kind and polite. They were amazing. But Featherpaw seemed a bit ah, let's say different from her siblings." Lakekit frowned. Featherpaw had been amazing, and when Sleetpaw, Crunchpaw and Icepaw bullied them, Featherpaw always stood up to them. But the three had tricked all the adult cats into thinking that they were the sweetest, and using that to their advantage. "Remember you are expected to be the best, because ShadowClan are the best Clan!" Dawnfrost's voice interrupted Lakekit's thoughts.

Lakekit and her siblings, Duskkit and Frostkit, cheered. "Yeah! Go ShadowClan!"

Streamice thrust his head in. "How are my three kits doing?" Lakekit and Frostkit,who were free from Dawnfrost's torturous grooming, scrambled towards their father. Lakekit lunged forward, only to slap to the ground as Dawnfrost put her paw on Lakekit's tail. "Nope! I just groomed you! Now you're dusty again! Think about what the Clan wants you to look like for your first ceremony!" Lakekit pouted as Dawnfrost began to make her shiny again. "There you go. You three finally look presentable." Dawnfrost and Streamice sat together, tails twined, as they watched their kits peer outside. A call from Pinestar emitted from the meeting area. Lakekit scampered back to her parents. "Yay! Let's go!"

Dawnfrost and Streamice went on either side of their kits and accompanied them towards the tree. Lakekit was next to Dawnfrost, and Duskkit was next to Streamice, being the oldest, while Lakekit was the youngest. The Clan parted to make way for the three kits and their parents. Lakekit raised her head proudly, letting the sun shine on her cream fur, and light up her pale blue eyes. Duskkit's ginger fur shone red in the light, and Frostkit was a perfect mix, being next to cream fur and ginger fur, and having cream and ginger patched fur. Frostkit's eyes were a deep blue, and showed excitement as she padded towards Pinestar. Duskkit's sky blue eyes reflected the sky, and showed her tension. Lakekit glanced at her father and saw his ginger fur and blue eyes make him the perfect image of Duskkit. Dawnfrost was the perfect identical image of Lakekit. Then Dawnfrost and Streamice parted away from their kits and stood together, as they watched them step up to the tree and sit, their tails curled neatly around their paws.

"Lakekit, Duskkit and Frostkit have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for them to get apprenticed. From this day on, you three shall be known as Lakepaw, Duskpaw, and Frostpaw. Lakepaw, your mentor shall be Seedpelt." Seedpelt stepped forward, looking surprised and happy. "I hope Seedpelt passes down all she has learnt. Duskpaw, your mentor shall be Snowheart. I hope that she passes down all she learnt from Crescentrain to you." Snowheart stepped out from the crowd of cats, and waved her tail with excitement as she walked over to Duskpaw. "And Frostpaw, your mentor shall be Frogleap." The only available senior warrior stood up, and trotted over to Frostpaw, smiling. "I hope he passes down all that he knows to Frostpaw!"

The Clan chanted. "Lakepaw, Duskpaw, Frostpaw!"

Lakepaw looked up at Seedpelt. Her bright green eyes stood out from her brown pelt, and she mewed "Don't be scared of me! Badgers are what you should be scared of!" teased Seedpelt. Just like that Lakepaw felt like Seedpelt was an old friend, and was chatting with her comfortably when Pinestar yowled. "You may now touch noses!" Seedpelt leaned down, and Lakepaw put her front paws on Seedpelt's legs before stretching up to touch her nose. "Clan dismissed!" finished Pinestar.


	15. Chapter 14: Surprise Mentors!

Chapter 14

Lakepaw

Lakepaw bounced around."What can we do!"  
"Do you want to see the territory?" asked Seedpelt.  
"Really? Straight away? Of course! Oh, will Frostpaw and Duskpaw come?" questioned Lakepaw, who was very excited. Seedpelt trotted over to Frogleap and Snowheart, who nodded their heads strongly as Seedpelt spoke. Frostpaw and Duskpaw bounded over. "Hey! I can't believe that we are apprentices now!" mewed Frostpaw excitedly.  
"Yeah! What are our mentors talking about over there?" asked Duskpaw. Lakepaw purred. "Oh! I asked if we could all go together to-" Lakepaw was cut off when Seedpelt began to speak. "See the territory!" Seedpelt completed. "Snowheart and Frogleap agree, and then you can go to sleep. The territory will take all day to look around!" Lakepaw and Duskpaw looked at each other in excitement, while Frostpaw was bouncing, clawing at the air with each leap, because she was so happy. Frostpaw was known very well for over exciting really easily, and that was what made her her. "Let's go!" mewed Frogleap.

The group trotted out of the camp. Past the bramble wall, out of the world that was the only place that Lakepaw knew, and into the new territory. Lakepaw stepped out of the camp, and was overwhelmed by the new sights and scents. 'The world is so big!' thought Lakepaw. 'I never knew….' Her thoughts trailed off as she gazed at the trees and the ferns curling around the roots of the tall, soaring pine trees. She gazed around, her eyes stretched as wide as they would go, absorbing all the new sights. She was distinctly aware of her sisters standing beside her, doing the exact same thing. At the top of the dip where the camp was centered, stood the three mentors. Then Seedpelt and Snowheart turned, obviously checking the camp for dangers. Then Frogleap turned, and the hot air carried his mew easily down to where Lakepaw and her siblings were. "Ummm, where are our apprentices?" Some of Frogleap's words were faint, and Lakepaw had to strain her ears to hear him. Her ears were used to the hustle and bustle of the busy ShadowClan camp, and it was a relief to be finally in the peaceful forest, where every word could be heard. Lakepaw loved the forest, even if she had been there for only a little while. She continued to watch Snowheart, Frogleap and Seedpelt look around, trying to find their apprentices. She shoved Duskpaw and Frostpaw, and pointed with her tail at their mentors, and whispered to them faintly, "Do you want to show off our skills?" Duskpaw and Frostpaw nodded, careful to hide their actions, so their mentors wouldn't see them, a smile spreading over their faces as they realised Lakepaw's plan. They began to creep up to where their mentors were standing, searching the dip with sharp eyes. Lakepaw spied a low branch hanging from one of the pine trees, and leapt powerfully up onto the branch. A fern rustled, but none of the mentors noticed. 'They must have thought it was a mouse or something.' thought Lakepaw, a triumphant smile spreading over her face. Her sisters, though, looked up at Lakepaw, who gestured at them with her tail to spread out in a pincer grip. They nodded, and Frostpaw slunk off to the other side of their mentors, speeding through the forest, while not making a sound.

'Wow. She is great at that. It's as if she is a shadow!' Lakepaw envied her sister's ability to not make a sound, inheriting the natural ShadowClan ability, silence. Lakepaw, she had inherited an unique talent, leaping into trees. Lakepaw and her father, Streamice, both were able to jump extra-ordinarily high, higher than other cats. Duskpaw had inherited their mother's ability to be able to blend into the shadows, even with her bright ginger pelt. All three daughters had their own special ability, and all together, they were impossible to beat! Lakepaw grinned. Their mentors didn't realise their apprentices' capability, and would underestimate them. Lakepaw spotted Frostpaw, hidden in the ferns near where the mentors were. They were all upwind of the apprentices. Just because they had been kits recently, didn't mean that the older apprentices didn't teach them tricks! Duskpaw looked up at Lakepaw, and Lakepaw guessed that Duskpaw had spotted Frostpaw as well, since she was looking at Lakepaw with a question in her eyes. Lakepaw nodded, and pawed the air to tell Frostpaw it was time to attack. Frostpaw crouched, even lower, her hindlegs tucked in neatly to amplify her power when she jumped. All sisters knew to keep their claws sheathed, or they might be punished. Lakepaw waited for the right moment, and finally, when the moment came, she swished her tail, and the three leaped.

Lakepaw landed squarely on Seedpelt's shoulders, squishing Seedpelt onto the soft forest floor. Then she pinned her down, and started to batter her face with strong blows, claws sheathed. In the corner of her vision, she could see Frogleap had cornered Frostpaw, but just as Lakepaw was going to help her, Frostpaw crouched on the floor and sprang up, pushing off of the pine tree behind her and sailing over Frogleap's head before spinning and landing facing him. Duskpaw had Snowheart pinned, belly down, and was churning her hindpaws over Snowheart's spine. "We win!" yowled Lakepaw triumphantly. "That was to show you to not handle us carefully. The other apprentices taught us, and so did Ravenfur and Conemoon." Seedpelt's green eyes held a new level of respect in her eyes. She grunted, and Lakepaw released her. "Ok, thanks for letting us know."

"But next time, tell us instead of attacking us! We could have clawed you to bits!" growled Frogleap.

"But they showed us that they can handle it!" countered Snowheart, in a tone that was not to be argued with. "They could've clawed us to bits, but they knew the rule, and I give them credit for learning things before their apprenticeship, so now we know how good they really are." agreed Seedpelt. Lakepaw and her siblings shot each other excited glances. 'What if, what if, they make us warriors before Sleetpaw, Icepaw, Crunchpaw and Featherpaw!?' Lakepaw felt a pang of regret. If they were warriors first, Sleetpaw and her gang would blame Featherpaw and start to torture her. Lakepaw made up her mind, determination coursing through her blood like fire. 'We'll just have to train Featherpaw to be as good as us!

Try to guess Tuftpaw, Fuzzypaw, Sandpaw, Dawnpaw, and Fawnpaw's warrior names! I might just pick yours!  
-WarriorsErin


	16. Chapter 15: Warning

Chapter 15

Pinestar, ShadowClan

Pinestar sighed and curled his tail tip over his nose. Ever since the cryptic warning StarClan had given him two sunrises ago, Pinestar had been worrying and thinking, trying to find out its meaning. He knew that if you tried to avoid something bad happening, it would trap you and the bad thing would happen anyway. He wanted to wail out loud, but he knew he couldn't. His Clan depended on him. 'Why StarClan, why!' he yowled in his head. He could remember the night he had been given the warning as if it had just happened.

 _"Pinestar, look into the pool."_  
 _"Why, Flakestar. I came here to get help, not to gaze at water like a kit!"_  
 _"Relax. I know things are tough in the Clans, but this might just help."_  
 _"Really!?"_  
 _"Yes. Now look."_

 _The silvery pool of water swirled, and became a startling storm. It rose up, out of the dip where it had been before, and trapped Pinestar in its depths. Rain sliced through his thick brown and ginger pelt, and Pinestar narrowed his blue eyes through the wailing gale. He spied the lake and bounded towards it. "The lake wasn't that close!" mewed Pinestar in shock. He backed away, and tripped over something. He glanced behind him, and jumped with shock when he realised it was a dead fox. Its jaws were still open, snarling at the sky, eyes bearing hatred. "Beware Pinestar, a time of doom is coming. A wall of fire will burn down everything in its path, and only the calm of a frozen lake can stop it. Find this and protect your Clan, or die." The voice faded away, and Pinestar woke up, flanks heaving as he stared around. As he realized that the ShadowClan camp was perfectly dry, he sat and looked up at the sparkling night sky. 'What are you trying to tell me StarClan?'  
_

Please, please review about the warrior names. I have some that I made, but I want to see other people's choices. If you have some names in mind, don't be afraid to post a review. I love getting reviews and it makes my heart soar! Just not anything mean, or anything that is rude. Thanks!  
-WarriorsErin


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Softkit, ThunderClan

Half a moon later

"All cats that are old enough to hunt gather around the High rock for a Clan meeting!" At the call of Blossomstar's summons Softkit wriggled out of her mother Roseheart's grip, and darted out of the nursery. All of the warriors gathered from wherever they were to see the meeting. 'Soon I'll join them!' thought Softkit. She spotted the five apprentices coming out of the apprentice den, gleaming in the light of sun-high. Softkit started dreaming of racing through the cool ThunderClan forest, the breeze ruffling her fur, as she pelted towards the Gathering as a warrior…. Brookekit nudged her, and woke her from her daydream. "Your eyes were drifting away, and you missed a part of the speech! It'll be our turn next!" Brookekit's eyes were full of excitement. Softkit wished that her dream was true. It was much better than sitting in this heat! She made her pelt shiver, and she glared up at the shining sun, and the cloudless blue greenleaf sky. For the first time, Softkit wished for clouds to come and rain for days. Then it would be a nice time to get apprenticed. "Tuftpaw, Fuzzypaw, Fawnpaw, Sandpaw and Dawnpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?"

The apprentices replied strongly, not one voice quivering as they mewed "I do!"

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Tuftpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Tuftpelt. StarClan honours your independece and battle skill, and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan! Fuzzypaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Fuzzyfur. StarClan honours your forethought and courage, and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan. Sandpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Sandfern. StarClan honours your kindness and hunting skill and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan. Dawnpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Dawnbreak. StarClan honours your intelligence and honesty, and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan. Finally, Fawnpaw. From this moment on, you shall be known as Fawnleap. StarClan honours your jumping skill and your speed, and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan!" Blossomstar looked up to the sky, and found the moon, far off in the distance. She started yowling the new warriors' names to the Clan in the stars. "Tuftpelt, Fuzzyfur, Sandfern, Dawnbreak, Fawnleap!" joined in the Clan.

"Now for the new apprentices! Softkit, Brookekit and Rainkit, please step up." Softkit's sister Rainkit glanced at her then looked back at Blossomstar, her green eyes glimmering. Brookekit's leafy green eyes were wide open, and the shades of green flickered and moved about within his eyes. Softkit glanced back at her parents, Roseheart and Limeleaf, and met Roseheart's violet eyes, and Limeleaf's green ones, and felt comforted by their trust in their kits. "These kits have reached the age of six moons, and will be made apprentices this day. Softkit, Rainkit and Brookekit, from this moment on, you shall be known as Softpaw, Rainpaw, and Brookepaw. Softpaw, your mentor shall be Cloudsong, Rainpaw, your mentor shall be Flickerbreeze, and Brookekit, your mentor shall be, Redspring!" announced Blossomstar. The Clan chanted the new apprentices names and the three new mentors stepped out from the crowd, looking completely amazed and over joyed. Softpaw instantly recognized Cloudsong, as she had visited her many times in the nursery. Cloudsong murmered, almost to herself, "I will be a good mentor, I promise."

 _I need names for some leaders and some kits. Six leaders are needed, and 20 kits are needed. I know that's a lot of spots for the kits, I basically used a random generator, but if you review, I might pick yours. If I don't I might save it for another story. Also, there are 14 tom kits needed, and 6 shekits needed. I don't care what gender the leaders are, but please, please add the description of your character and their personality. Date this will end, 14th of April 2017. Date today is 30th of March_  
 _-WarriorsErin_


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stormpaw, RiverClan

Silverflower had started kitting slightly early, and everyone was worried about the silvery queen. If she, well went to StarClan, Stonefur might fade away. The tom in question was pacing up and down in front of the nursery, his face a worried expression. Sitting next to him was Lakesong, Stonefur's sister, and Bloomfeather, who was Silverflower's mother. The two shecats were sitting, chatting and occasionally calling Stonefur to stop worrying. Each time, Stonefur just shook his head at them and continued. A tongue rasped over his ear, and Stormpaw turned to see Brightpaw looking at him. His sister's shining white patches stood out in the hot sun. She looked at him, and mewed. "Come inside. You don't need to sit in this sweltering heat!"

"I do! I want to see what happens. If she doesn't make it, which is not that likely, Stonefur might fade away!" Brightpaw looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. "Don't worry! I've heard the elders tell stories of how powerful and strong Silverflower was when she fought in any battle. She won almost all!" Brightpaw's sky blue eyes softened as she looked at her brother. "She's not going to lose this one." Comforted by his sister's words of wisdom, Stormpaw shifted into the cool shade of the apprentices' reed den, continuing to gaze at where the nursery was. Stonefur winced visibly when a pain-filled yowl emitted from the nursery. Twilightgaze appeared from nearby the river with a clump of wet moss dripping in her jaws, and padded calmly towards the den where Silverflower was. Stopping for a quick word with Stonefur, Twilightgaze stalked indoors, her face a composed picture of calm. Brightpaw brushed her tail over Stormpaw's eyes gently, and nosed him into the den, where he fell asleep in the cool den.

Silverflower, RiverClan

She was so tired, and was already half asleep, when a robin flew into the den, and landed on Stonefur's head. In the robin's beak lay a flower petal, and the colour of the petal was a strong bronze. Some dust fell from the petal and landed on the only tom kit's chest, right where his heart should be. Silverflower then realised what the robin wanted them to do. "Our first born kit's name should be Robinkit." A feather on the robin's wing drifted down, and landed on Robinkit. "Our second shecat's name should be Petalkit." The petal fell from robin's beak and landed on Petalkit, then dissolved into dust as Silverflower finished naming her last shekit. "And the only tom's name will be Bronzekit. I want his warrior name to be Bronzeheart, after the bronze dust that fell onto his heart."

By the way, I will try to limit the P. to two to each Clan, unless I have a specific plan for particular cats, and I need to add their story into the mix. Also, thanks to Miranda and Oakleaf who reviewed!  
-WarriorsErin


	19. AN(Please don't skip)

When I asked for four leaders and twenty(sorry, 19) kits, I needed to tell you guys what litter they are in, so here I go!:  
Hopheart and Slidestep's litter- 3 toms and a shecat  
Hawkfeather and Poolbirds's litter- 3 shecats and 3 toms  
Sandburn and Frostheart's litter- a tom and a shecat  
Ravenfur and Blazingpetal's litter- 3 toms  
Pinestar and Sapheart's litter- 3 toms and 1 shecat  
Remember, I didn't make these kits, it was a random generator. And by the way, I think that there is only one leader space left. Remember, the deadline for submitting the names is 14th of April. By the way, please remember to put the description of your character and its personality. For example:

Name: Emberkit(put the warrior name in brackets, Embertail)

Description: orange tom with a black tail and amber eyes

Personality: Kind and smart tom. Will help anyone, and is fiercely loyal to his Clan, ShadowClan. He is a great hunter, in spite of his bright pelt, and is strong. Many of his enemies underestimate him because of his slight frame, and his name is whispered among the apprentices of all of the Clans.

Mother: Golddapple

Father: Eagleflight

A leader is:

Name: Whistlestar

Description: silver tom with black speckles and blue eyes

Personality: Loving tom with an anger streak. Looks after his Clan as fiercely as he can and lets loose his angry side to protect his loved ones.

How he became leader: Was elected deputy after the previous one was killed ruthlessly in a battle against some dogs. Leader died few moons later from greencough.


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

Boltpaw, WindClan

Boltpaw stretched. It had been a half moon since Springpaw's near drowning at the Gathering. "Come on! We still have to go to the Outlook Rock!" mewed his mentor, Harerunner. The mention of Outlook Rock cheered him up. ' _I love the way the rock is positioned so that you can see_ everything _there is in WindClan territory! It's one of my favourite places to be!'_ Harerunner was far in front of him, and he watched as her tiny form disappeared behind the hill where the Outlook Rock was. Boltpaw prepared himself for a long sprint to catch up to Harerunner. ' _Now!'_ Boltpaw sprang forward, his long legs eating up the moorland turf as he bent his spine to stretch his legs further. He steadied his breathing and soon fell into a rhythm. ' _One. Two. One. Two.'_ He thought, matching his strides to the rhythm. In no time, he had caught up to Harerunner. Breathing deeply,he settled into the groove in the rock and gazed out towards the horizon. A hawk stretched its wings in front of the ShadowClan territory, and dived. Boltpaw reported it to his mentor. He then scanned the view, and saw a fat black and grey kittypet stretched out in a patch of territory it had. "Black and grey kittypet on its twoleg territory." he mewed to Harerunner. "Stop. It's becoming quarter past sun high. Let's go back to camp and then we'll have battle training with Rockpaw, Starlingpaw, Leafpaw, Springpaw and your brother Flightpaw." At the sound of Rockpaw and Starlingpaw's names, Boltpaw inwardly grimaced. Those two were dung-brains, acting like they knew everything, even though they didn't. Worst of all, Wrenflight encouraged them, and didn't care, because her mate wasn't there to stop her.

Boltpaw wished that when he was a kit, his parents had been around. Now, Frostheart was in the nursery again, expecting her second litter of kits, and Sandburn didn't really care about his two sons. He spent all his time with Frostheart now. Boltpaw didn't mind, since at least his parents weren't as bad as Leafpaw and Springpaw's remaining parent, Wrenflight, who thought that they were worth nothing. Loudstorm, their father, had died from greencough, and Boltpaw wondered what Wrenflight would have been like if Loudstorm had lived.

Harerunner and him entered the dip where the camp was and slid through the prickly gorse barricade entrance. Harerunner meowed "Go get some prey, and meet me here by quarter past sun high, okay?" Boltpaw nodded. He ran off the the prey pile, and proudly noticed that his plump rabbit had been taken. Boltpaw looked and grabbed a small sparrow. He padded to the apprentices den, and sat there, until he finished. Boltpaw began to groom himself with long, calm strokes, but he was rudely interrupted by two apprentices. "Oh, hey Boltpaw." sneered Rockpaw. Boltpaw braced himself, and took his time grooming, knowing it would infuriate Rockpaw and Starlingpaw. "He said, hey Boltpaw! Aren't you going to reply!" growled Starlingpaw threateningly. Boltpaw turned and faced them, making his face expressionless. "Hi." Then Boltpaw swept by his two denmates and walked into the apprentices' den, where he found Flightpaw, who was lying down staring at the wall with his tail tucked over his nose. Boltpaw lay down beside him and bushed his fur into Flightpaw's. "Ugh. I hate those two." Boltpaw quietly mewed. "They are always so mean and full of themselves, and Wrenflight just encourages them even more. She's more blind than a dead mouse!" Boltpaw continued.

"I know, and it just makes me even more angry when I see Wrenflight looking at Springpaw or Leafpaw with that-that sneer on her face!" growled Flightpaw. Boltpaw agreed. "Ever since Springpaw almost drowned, I've watched Wrenflight around her, and I see those looks. I can't believe that they are related!" continued Flightpaw. He started to tear up the moss in front of him, his long, sharp claws sinking into the green. Boltpaw let him vent out all his anger on the piece of moss, and felt bad for it. It wasn't the moss's fault, and it was being teared up anyway! Boltpaw sighed.

Flightpaw began to meow again, his voice more hushed. "I-I just like Springpaw, and I feel so bad for her!" Flightpaw burst out. Boltpaw was shocked. "I feel that way about Leafpaw! I know how you feel, and maybe when we're warriors, we can tell them more." Flightpaw turned his head, and Boltpaw met his amber eyes with his green. Boltpaw looked outside at the sun, and jerked to his paws. "Oh no! It's time for battle training! C'mon Flightpaw!" mewed Boltpaw, tucking his nose under Flightpaw and trying to heave him up. Flightpaw suddenly stood up, and Boltpaw was catapulted across the den. Boltpaw met Flightpaw's amused gaze, and even though it hurt, began to purr as hard as he could.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Lakepaw, ShadowClan

"Tuck your paws in Frostpaw! No, not like that! You look like a roosting chicken!" mewed Frogleap, exasperated as Frostpaw ended up once again with all her paws together right underneath her. Lakepaw walked over and nudged Frostpaw's front paws forward. "You need them out, otherwise how are you going to spring?" she teased. Frostpaw applied the correction, and began to leap and land on the blade of grass. "Duskpaw, keep more of your weight on your hindquarters! That way you will be able to stalk as quiet as a mouse." mewed Snowheart patiently.

Lakepaw glanced over just in time to see Duskpaw's stalk. Duskpaw practically glided over the brittle grass, none snapping, before leaping and landing on a clump of leaves. "Oww! I stepped on a thorn!" yowled Duskpaw. "We've had enough of those these last few days. This heat is making all the thorns spikier than usual. Well, let's go back. It's time for the dusk patrol anyway." sighed Snowheart. Because of the abnormal heat, the patrols had been shifted, and so had the apprentice's training. Lakepaw thought back to her kit days, when she had played in the snow. ' _Snow….'_ She thought, then sighed. Now it was practically impossible to believe that snow had ever existed, or even leaf-bare! Lakepaw wished that it would rain, otherwise she was afraid the fire would burst out, and destroy the Clan.

The group all walked back,and the apprentices weren't racing ahead like they usually did. They were so hot and tired that they just couldn't muster the energy to jump around, or speak. The tall pine trees no longer protected the ShadowClan cats from the blistering heat. Everything was dry, and the only relief was the shrinking lake and rivers. Duskpaw was leaning heavily on Snowheart's shoulder, limping. Lakepaw padded after them, her head bowed. They entered the camp, and Lakepaw took a slight relief in the shade that the edges offered. Icepaw bounded up to her, a sneering look on her face. "Defeated again, are you! I bet that-" Icepaw was cut off sharply by Lakepaw's mew.

"Just go away Icepaw. I can't be bothered to answer to your un-developed shots at me." Lakepaw couldn't even muster any emotion in her voice, and didn't even laugh when Icepaw reared back, her mouth still hanging open. Lakepaw turned away, and padded after Duskpaw as her sister disappeared into the medicine cat grotto. Lakepaw vanished into the ferns after her.

Okay, so you may have realised that I sort of messed up the chapter numbers. I changed it, so this chapter is actually chapter 19, while the chapter before was chapter 18, even though it said chapter 17. Also, I kind of messed up the updating, and I had this whole chapter ready, and everything before I realised that I had to update about five chapters before it. So sorry again for the long wait, and please review on the kit names! I also changed the date for the names until my birthday, 4th May 2017.

-WarriorsErin


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Lakepaw, ShadowClan

In the grotto it was wonderfully cool. A small stream tumbled down from the mini cliff next to the entrance, and leafy pine branches stopped the burning sun from penetrating the roof of the grotto. Stray branches stretched out from the tree in the middle of the clearing, herbs stacked carefully in the nooks of the branches. The green spring grass was wonderfully soft under Lakepaw's pads, and she lay down, stretching out as she watched Sprucestorm carefully pull a sharp tan coloured object from Duskpaw's pink pads. "Huh!" grunted Sprucestorm.

"What is it?" asked Lakepaw, curious.

"It's not a thorn, it's just a shard of brittle grass!" mewed Sprucestorm. "Loads of warriors have been coming back from hunting or border patrols with, not thorns, but tips of dried up grasses!"

"The heat has dried up all of the forests and moors." mewed Lakepaw.

"Lucky RiverClan. They can escape from this heat by swimming in their stream!" growled Duskpaw, a look of envy on her face. "Another Gathering is in a half moon! I can't believe that our first half moon as apprentices has passed so quickly!" purred Lakepaw, rolling on her back and stretching herself out. Sprucestorm looked up from where he was making a poultice out of marigold. "Wath ou! Vere ith a cwump ov catminth vere!"

Lakepaw couldn't help but purr a bit as she listened to Sprucestorm, who's mew was muffled by the marigold poultice. Lakepaw sat up and tensed her hind legs, then leaped up onto a high branch containing no herbs. Sprucestorm looked up, a bit surprised at Lakepaw's abnormally high jump, while Duskpaw didn't look surprised, since she was used to Lakepaw running along tree branches instead of running along the ground. She lay her back on the branch and dangled her head over the edge of the branch. Sprucestorm slapped the poultice onto Duskpaw's paw. "Right, no more need for you two to stay here! Shoo!" Sprucestorm said with a twinkle in his eye. He licked the tops of the young apprentices' heads, and they both trotted out of the calm grotto.


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Redspring, ThunderClan

"Don't you dare move." hissed Redspring, quietly stalking a massive thrush. He was hunting near the WindClan border on a hunting patrol. He crouched, and gathered his strength into his hindquarters. Then he leaped. He landed squarely on the thrush, and dealt it a killing bite. He sniffed it and was pleased with his catch. Burying it, he opened his jaws and searched for more. That was when he spotted a rabbit, fat and juicy. It was snuffling on the ferns near the WindClan border, and Redspring checked how close.

' _Hmm. If I circled around downwind, and creep up close enough to the border, then I will have a chance to catch it!'_ He checked the way the wind was blowing, and curled around the rabbit in a semi circle. He stalked, as light as a feather closer to the rabbit, until he was in leaping distance.

' _One more step, then the bunny is mine!'_ thought Redspring gleefully. Stalking forward, he made a slight sound, and the bunny began to hop towards the border. Redspring sprang, and sprinted forward, pouncing on the rabbit. Bowling over with the weight of the prey, he killed the rabbit and it fell limp in his jaws. He felt a soft paw push against his red fur, stopping him from rolling over the border. "Trying to steal WindClan prey?" mewed a gentle voice, teasing him.

"No! This fresh-kill was rightfully ThunderClan's. I caught it on this side of the border, and it's now mine!" hissed Redspring, looking up at the cat who had stopped him. What he saw made him blink. Gazing down at him was a beautiful shecat with dark grey fur and the deepest blue eyes Redspring had ever seen. She had black markings dotted all over her pelt, and Redspring found his eyes tracing the marks as they wound around on her fur in intricate patterns.

"Hi. Sorry for the rude introduction. Let's start again! Okay, hi there! My name's Raincloud!" mewed the beautiful shecat, snapping Redspring out of his observations.

"Oh! Ummm. Hi! My name is Redspring!" he mewed cautiously, eyeing the shecat. Raincloud apparently didn't notice his observations and smiled brightly at him. "I'd better go now, y'know. So yeah, bye!"

"Bye?" tried Redspring as Raincloud spun around and trotted back towards the moor. He picked up his prey, and walked steadily back to the ThunderClan camp. Raincloud's accent surprised him. ' _Did all WindClan cats sound like that?'_ he asked himself. He had spoken to multiple WindClan cats during the Gatherings, but had never really noticed them. He began to think why. Ever since his, no no no. Redspring had sworn never to return to that thought again. Never.


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Springpaw, WindClan

' _One two three four. One two three four!'_ Springpaw counted her strides as she tore across the WindClan moors, breathing deeply. Her mentor, Raincloud was striding beside her, her spine curving with every leap she took. However, today her mentor seemed a bit distracted from her usual attentive self. Her stunning dark blue eyes forever gazed at the distant horizon, yet Springpaw thought that she could feel her gaze raking through Springpaw's fur whenever she looked away. ' _Stop!'_ she told herself sharply as she began to tire. Her thoughts had carried her off stride, and she fought to regain control of her bounds. Screwing her eyes against the brightness of the sun and the whipping wind, she scanned the plains for any cats. She instanty spotted a speck close to her, and a smell Springpaw had grown to hate drifted into her nose. ' _Rockpaw.'_

She shuddered. Her spoilt brother always made fun of her, and claimed her successes as his own. Thankfully, her mentor knew about these tales, and believed Springpaw when she told Raincloud the truth. Since the accident at the Gathering, Flightpaw had stood up for her against her brothers more and more. Springpaw wondered why. Yes, he was one of her best friends, but why her? Springpaw and her mentor finally arrived at Outlook Rock after their long trip around the territory. Settling down onto the rock, she tucked her paws neatly under her chest, and gazed around. "Today, Springpaw, we will be doing hunting with Rockpaw." announced Raincloud, finally becoming her normal self again.

' _Not Rockpaw! No!'_ Springpaw groaned inwardly.

Just then, a snide mew interrupted her annoyance. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the little Springpaw, isn't it?"

Springpaw braced herself, and replied just as smartly. "Well, you are my age, so technically you are calling yourself little. And if you can't remember your own littermate's name, then I suggest that you start to visit the medicine cat's den more often."

Turning away, Springpaw ignored the look on her stunned brother's face and stifled a loud purr. ' _Haha! Ain't nice to get beaten at your own game, is it Rockpaw!'_

Hopheart appeared behind his apprentice. "Sorry, Springpaw. I wish that your tenderness would rub off on Rockpaw, but I guess it will never happen, will it?"

Springpaw purred, touching her nose to the experienced warrior. Hopheart was way too nice for Rockpaw, but she knew that Heatherstar knew what she was doing. ' _Probably that some of Hopheart's kindness will warm Rockpaw up.'_ Springpaw purred quietly again.

The mentors led their two apprentices down to the grassy training area. Raincloud and Hopheart sat next to each other, before Hopheart mewed loudly. "Run five times around the track Rockpaw. As for you Springpaw, Raincloud tells me that you have already warmed up." Springpaw nodded her head. "So, you can practice climbing."

Inwardly, Springpaw groaned. Climbing was what she did worst, but since Rockpaw was there, she wanted to show him that she was just as good as him. To one side of the training area was a grove of birch trees. The silver bark glinted in the sun, and as Springpaw approached, the black dots that adorned the bark seemed to swirl. A cat's face formed, and it stepped out from the bark. Springpaw circled the trees, not wanting any of the other cats to notice her. Luckily, Raincloud and Hopheart were busy yowling at Rockpaw, who was running his laps in the worst technique Springpaw had ever seen. The bark cat was curling around her now, and she looked up at it fearfully.

Something was twinkling deep in the new cat's fur. Straining, Springpaw looked at it, only to realise that it was a star. The cat was lighted by stars, millions of them, shining deep in the pelt of the new cat. Gasping, Springpaw realised this was a StarClan cat, but why was it here? Then the StarClan cat spoke. It's voice was a high melodical mew. Springpaw listened in, entranced, as the cat began to speak. "Greetings Springpaw. I am Pebblestar, and I was once leader of WindClan. I am here because there is a storm coming. One that doesn't destroy, but hurts deep within. Find the chosen apprentices, and stop the Clans from destroying themselves. Together you shall save the Clans." With that, Pebblestar faded away, leaving Springpaw standing behind a tree. Springpaw took a deep breath, storing that information away, and returned to her task. Clambering up the thick birch trunk, Springpaw quickly reached the top, and sat, gazing out over the four territories. ' _I wonder. Who are the special cats?'_

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Okay, I have an important violin exam, so I won't update for a while, so just please be patient. I will still post, and just expect to have less chapters.


	25. Chapter 23

Wait, am I seeing this right? ~goes checks views again~ Yes! No way! I can't believe it! I have 661 views! Yes! Well, anyway, sorry for the big break, cos I was travelling. I didn't know if I could post chapters using another device other than my laptop, so it took a while to try to make time to make this. Don't expect a lot of chapters until I get the names of the billions of kits that I somehow have to come up with the names of. (Finally worked out how to have page breaks :D) By the way, the competition for the names of the kits ends in the twenty fourth day of April, 2016. You may have notice the rating has gone up to T, that's cos I read loads of other books, and realised they were rated T, so I wanted to change it, so I could make the cats have some battles. Enough of me, here's the chapter, and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 23

Stormpaw, RiverClan

Ever since the Gathering, all Stormpaw had thought of was the apprentice with light grey fur, and green eyes which matched the colours of the lush grass. He hadn't been able to concentrate, and Iceclaw, knowing him extremely well, had asked him multiple times if there was anything he wanted to tell her, or if anything was bothering him. Each time, Stormpaw had shaken his head, and tried his hardest to hear what his mentor was trying to teach him. 'My assessment is in the next moon and I can't even concentrate!' He hissed, shaking his head furiously. Willowstar was perched on the Waterrock, surveying the Clan. Carppelt was sitting next to her, and every so often, Willowstar would lean over and murmur something inaudible in her trusty deputy's ear. Carppelt would nod or shake his head, and would mew something back to Willowstar. Stormpaw sighed, and looked back at the fat trout at his paws. Trout was his favourite, but today it tasted bland. Still, Stormpaw forced himself to tune back into his friends' mewing and eat up the trout. Tonight was the Gathering, and Stormpaw hoped that he would be able to go. He wanted to see Springpaw again, and he wanted to meet the other apprentices from all of the other Clans.

A soft muzzle nuzzled his grey ear, and Stormpaw looked up, amber eyes unfocused and distant. Leaning over him was his golden and grey brother; Streampaw. Opening his mouth, Stormpaw's littermate displayed his shining white set of teeth before starting to mew. "Are you okay?"

Stormpaw looked up in surprise. Had his strange mood been noticed by his brother? He dismissed that worrying thought as Streampaw sat down, clearly waiting for an answer. "Yeah! Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be? I mean, this trout is delicious!"

Streampaw looked startled by Stormpaw's ramble, and embarrassed, Stormpaw ducked his head.

"O-okay?" tried Streampaw, head cocked to one side, eyes narrowed with amusement. "Yeah, I've got a lot on my mind right now, with the-"

"Assessment and everything." finished Streampaw. "Don't worry, I get it. Anyways, at least there is one littermate that feels the same way as I do!" he muttered, gazing over at Stormpaw and Streampaw's sister; Brightpaw, who was certainly living up to her name, a bundle of sleek fur as she dashed around, chatting to everyone. She didn't look like she had a care in the world, much less her warrior assessment! Stormpaw's warm amber orbs clouded with guilt, thinking about his brother's words. 'I'm worried about Springpaw, not our assessment, though I am worried about what the Clan would think if I failed my assessment!'

An expression of anxiety flickered over Stormpaw's face like minnows in a pool. Thankfully, Streampaw didn't seem to notice, his eyes fixed on a certain little kit. Frowning, Stormpaw followed his serious gaze, his eyes opening wide as he saw one of Silverflower's three six day old kits clambering around near the water. She tripped, dangerously near the river bank, and Stormpaw could hardly hear a rustle of fur as Streampaw shot to his feet, multi coloured fur on end. His brother paused, as tense as a hunter waiting to pounce as the little kit teetered on the edge.

As if in slow motion, Stormpaw could see the movement of the kit as she fell down into the icy rushing river, and felt his ear fur rustle with the leaving of Streampaw as he raced to save the tiny cat from visiting StarClan.

Suddenly, a big wave rolled over Stormpaw, and everything was returned to normal speed. A wail pierced his ears as the small kit was yanked by the strong current, and pulled under. The steady thrum of his litter mate's paws as he struggled to keep up with the drowning kitten. The shocked faces of his Clanmates when they heard the terrifying splash of the kit meeting the river. And the final, most horrifying thing of all, Silverflower's beautiful face frozen into a look of shock and utter, complete misery as she realised it was her kit that was washed down the river.

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Okay, something new I wanted to try so I get to know the people reading more, the Question of the Day!

QOTD:

Which cat would you save from dying in the Warrior Cats series?


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Stormpaw, RiverClan

Suddenly a big wave rolled over Stormpaw, returning everything back to normal speed.

"No!" yowled his Clanmates, shooting to their feet. Minnowsplash was already racing towards the river, intent on saving the kit. However, Streampaw was closer, and as the kit sunk below once more, Streampaw watched the surface of the water carefully.

Stormpaw had already leaped across the stepping stones of the river before he stopped and asked himself what he was doing. Shaking his head, he continued and raced along the river bank, watching what Minnowsplash and Streampaw were doing. A flash of silver and brown patched fur caught Stormpaw's eyes and he yowled wildly, tail swung everywhere as he tried to tell his brother. "She's there! Under the water! Someone get her!"

Too faraway from the kit to help, Stormpaw waited anxiously as his brother's eyes widened and he dived in, golden patches gleaming in the setting sun. Stormpaw paced uncontrollably as he glared at the water so intensely that it was a wonder that it didn't evaporate into steam. Flickers of colours were darting below the surface, distracting him, and Stormpaw could barely restrain himself from leaping into the river, even though he knew it wouldn't help.

Minnowsplash was pushing herself along at an incredible pace, speeding down the river as fast as a bird flying through WindClan territory. She seemed to be annoyed, paddling across the river, ducking her head under the water and occasionally diving down. Yet Streampaw didn't surface with the kit.

Then Streampaw didn't come up for a while. ' _When! When!'_ asked Stormpaw frustratedly as his brother didn't come up, and the kit wasn't visible. Under that layer of frustration lay an emotion so thick that it was stifling Stormpaw. Worry. Worry for his brother, the unnamed kit, Silverflower and Stonefur, the kit's two siblings, Brightpaw, Ashheart; who was Stormpaw's father and Stonefur's brother.

Briefly, Stormpaw wondered what it would be like in StarClan, with his dead mother and older sister. They were so kind, Goldfire his sister and Ferndew his mother with their laughing eyes and joyful smiles. He could remember a dream he had once, when he was barely a half moon old. Unwillingly, he was swept away into his memories.

 _Stormkit woke to see a beautiful meadow, lush with green grass and reeds that were rippling in the wind. A clear stream babbled past the meadow, gurgling happily as it tumbled about in the rapids. Little Stormkit's eyes widened. It was warm and bright here, not like home, where the sun didn't shine and the snow was so bright it hurt his eyes._

 _He began to roll, relishing the feelings of the green grass on his kitten-soft fur. Stormkit was enjoying it so much, he didn't see two starry cats emerge from the tall oak forest from where the stream came from. The two stepped in front of the playing kit, and he looked up at them in surprise._

 _A white, gold and ginger shecat, and a golden shecat that started white from her face and ended in a grey gold hue stood in front of him, sadness evident in their gazes._

" _Hello Stormkit. Do you know who I am?" asked the white, gold and ginger cat._

" _Nope! But you look like the cat Ashheart described as our mother!"_

" _You are right. I am your mother; I am Ferndew."_

" _Really? Then why are you here, not with me, or Brightkit, or Streamkit?"_

 _Unbearable pain pooled in Ferndew's blue eyes. She lay down next to her kit and drew her tail around him. Stormkit put his front paws on her shoulder and mewed._

" _Why did you leave us?"_

 _In his amber gaze, there was nothing but deep curiosity. Ferndew took a long breath. "It was my time. Nothing you, Ashheart, or even StarClan themselves, could have changed my destiny." She gently told him._

 _Understanding filled Stormkit from muzzle to tail tip and he nodded seriously , even though he had no idea what in StarClan Ferndew meant. He shrugged it off. Goldfire yowled. "Stop!"_

 _Stormkit looked at his older sister with surprise. Goldfire looked angry, her gold fur bristling, her lips pulled back in a snarl and her golden eyes were narrowed. She looked absolutely furious. Stormkit pulled back a shudder. This was his sister! "We didn't come here to tell you why our mother died, we came here for something else!"_

" _Okay?"_

 _Ferndew uncurled herself and stood by Goldfire. Their eyes glowed and Goldfire's fur lit up like a curl of flame. The wonderful area where they stood faded away into darkness. Stale air entered Stormkit's nose and he instinctively crouched, eyes open widely as he tried to find light in this dark place. Rough stone was under his paws and he moved them around, wincing as he scuffed one._

" _Be careful son of Fern, brother of Fire and Stream. When the Storm is whisked away, the Mint shall rise and save the day. But with loss there is hope, and the Clans can survive the raging storms."_

Streampaw's sleek golden head burst from the river, and in his mouth was a scrap of fur. But he appeared for a short while, because the rushing current soon pulled him underneath. Heart in his throat, Stormpaw leapt into the water, desperate to save his brother, who was scarily nearing thethunder of the waterfall. Minnowsplash was quicker, but not quick enough, as Streampaw and the kit was swept down and away, into the treacherous waters of the gorge.

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Okay, what do you think of that prophecy/warning? It has to do with the prophecies from each Clan, remember Pinestar and the bark cat? Anyway, I came up with the series name for my set of books. The name is The Raging Storms.

Thanks to Crowfeather911!

Time for Question Of The Day!

Why do you think Goldfire is in StarClan?

And the second one is!

Do you think I should write a short story about Goldfire's death?

Okay, please review about the kit names! Please! It would be nice if someone would review a name in time for my birthday, May 4th. I won't publish another chapter unless I am given two reviews by you amazing people. Anyway, head on over to Secrets Of The Storms if you want to, I've published a new chapter there too. :)


	27. Chapter 25

Here's an extra chapter since it was my birthday!

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Chapter 25

Stormpaw, RiverClan

"Noooo!" The heart rending cry tore at Stormpaw's heart and momentarily he was confused, mind whirling as he was tossed by the rapids that grew ever stronger as he neared the waterfall. Mist was sprayed up in the air, shimmering in the golden light of the sun. If he wasn't about to fall off a waterfall, or if his brother was safe with him, he would have found the scene beautiful; enchanting even. It took Stormpaw a second to realise who's maw the cry had emitted from; his own.

Glancing back, he just managed to catch Minnowsplash's shocked and terrified face as he tumbled down over the waterfall.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as he slowly turned in midair. The silvery drops of mist were faint, and seemed to catch the sun's golden rays like a fish scale does. Looking into the sheet of rushing water, Stormpaw saw his reflection gazing back at him. Droplets of liquid shone on his grey fur and his amber eyes shone like stars.

But past the transparent wall lay the dark stone of the cliff, where the water was constantly splashing and shining. It gleamed like the weird yet pretty Twoleg stuff that was always left behind.

He looked down to the gorge floor, and his heart lurched in his throat as he gazed at the dark blue waters that grew ever closer with every second. Where the waterfall met the gorge river, white spray was thrown up, and if Stormpaw looked closely, a tall cavern stretched behind the pool. Blocked by the waterfall's rushing, the cave was uninhabited, and Stormpaw guessed that it had been formed by the constant thundering as the falling water met the river and was splashed back, eroding the rock face.

Beyond the pool, a golden-and-grey blur could be seen as it traveled slowly through the deep water of the gorge. Streampaw. Stormpaw blinked, and time sped up, leaving him falling faster and faster until he met the pool.

He hit it with a force harder than rock, and as he collided with the spray, the underlying current yanked him away from the roar of the falls. Black spots danced in his vision, and he burst through the water gasping for air. The spots grew until all he could see was black. His body went limp, and his life in the paws of the river, he sank down, swept along with the current towards his littermate.

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What did you guys think about that? Here's Question Of The Day!

Why do you think Tigerstar hated Firestar so much when he came into the forest?


	28. Chapter 26

Second Chapter special. Remember to review! Enjoy!

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Chapter 26

Stormpaw, RiverClan

Hard, cold stone was under him. Stormpaw's muscles ached and groaning, he shifted. A sharp thrill of pain raced up his right foreleg. He frowned. Where had that come from? The pain in his muscles; it was almost as if- He had fallen off a waterfall! It all came rushing back to him. The kit, Streampaw, the flashback, falling off the waterfall, the current, and his black-out. He peeled his sticky eyelids open. Everything was bright and fuzzy, and he narrowed his amber orbs to shield himself from the light.

After a while, Stormpaw's vision focused, and everything was sharp and clear. He sat up and looked around his surroundings. He was on a sandy beach, and in front of him, the gorge river churned powerfully. Tall grey stone cliffes loomed on either side of the river, and the beach was overhung by the stone. Grit was in Stormpaw's fur, and he shuddered. It made his fur sticky and full of hard things. To take grit out of fur, you had to spend ages grooming it out, and then go and stand in rushing water.

Stormpaw sighed. He had to groom himself, since he had no idea how to get out of the gorge. Twisting, he licked his back, and when he licked his forelegs, his right one crumpled and he let out a yowl of pain. The throb had calmed down, but it was still there, aching painfully as Stormpaw tried to groom himself without hurting it.

Giving up, he scanned the little beach once more, and far away, on another sand bank lay a bundle of soaking fur. Curious, Stormpaw waited and watched, careful not to put any weight on his right foreleg. The sun came out from behind a cloud, and lit up the fur. Stormpaw gasped. It was Streampaw.

Standing up, he limped closer, and searched the water for a way to get to his brother. The water rippled, splashing Stormpaw. He ignored it, letting the wet droplets slide of his glossy fur. All his thoughts were focused on getting to his brother.

A light frown settled over Stormpaw's face as he tried to find a way to get to his brother. He couldn't swim, not with his hurt foreleg, and especially not in these waters. He glared down at the river, wanting to find a way to get across the foaming water. The sun broke from the clouds once more, and highlighted the blue of the gorge. Stretching across near where Stormpaw was standing to where Streampaw lay, was a strip of pale blue water.

Everything other than that strip was a deep blue, shimmering in the sun. Curious, Stormpaw tried to recall what he had been taught about river colours and what they meant. He distinctly remembered Iceclaw telling him something that he should remember, but he had been thinking about something else, not processing Iceclaw's words.

He trotted over to the pale blue strip, and tentatively, he put his good foreleg in. Stormpaw gasped as his pad met the warm sand. He pulled it back out, and hurried over to a dark blue area. He sunk his leg in, and it just kept on sinking. Water lapped his chest fur and with a soft grunt, Stormpaw pulled his leg out of the gripping torrent.

Everything that Iceclaw had told him in that training session he remembered. "Stormpaw, if there are lighter parts in the river, it means that the water is more shallow."

Stormpaw bounced back to the strip, careful not to put any weight on his right foreleg. He cautiously put one paw at a time on the bank and slowly walked over, leaning against the current that was pushing him.

Soon, he reached the small island where Streampaw lay. The limp fur rustled in the slight breeze and Stormpaw let out a sad meow. The golden and grey tom lay on the sand, not moving. Stormpaw rested his head on his brother's flank and closed his eyes, saying goodbye to his brother. He pictured Brightpaw's face when she realises that Streampaw was never coming back.


	29. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Stormpaw, RiverClan

Something shuddered and Stormpaw jumped up, backing away from Streampaw, a newfound hope gleaming in his eyes. Streampaw convulsed, throwing up a lot of river water before he collapsed panting. Stormpaw rushed towards his littermate, before covering him in licks.

"W-what happened?" mewed Streampaw, his voice shaking as he struggled to sit up.

"I thought you were dead!"

Streampaw looked surprised. "Uh, Stormpaw, tell me everything from the beginning."

Stormpaw began to speak, but Streampaw cut him off. "And Stormpaw?"

Stormpaw nodded.

"Tell it in the shortened version."

Stormpaw looked faintly sad, as if someone had taken away his fresh-kill.

"Alright." he sighed. "Okay, the kit fell into the river, you jumped in to save her, so did Minnowsplash, then you got the kit and was swept off the waterfall into the gorge. I jumped in after you, and got knocked out. I woke up on the beach, found your body and came over to it. You weren't moving, so I thought you were dead. Then you woke up. The end."

The high pitched mew of the kit sliced into Stormpaw's ear fur and from underneath Streampaw's foreleg wriggled a small brown and silver kit chirped again, and Streampaw looked up at Stormpaw, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"Well, it looks like she's alright!"

* * *

Well, here is the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Head on over to Secrets of the Storms, I just updated it. I'm away in KL for FIVE days. Don't worry, I'll try to update as much as I can. Here's Question Of The Day:  
Do you think that the main characters of the original Warriors series should be female? (Firestar, Alderheart.)


	30. Chapter 28

Ok. First of all I am very sorry for not updating. I've kind of been thrown back into school and had a french test, geo test, and an upcoming english and history test, and the teachers have suddenly agreed to come together to dump hours of homework on me. I know that that isn't a good excuse, but I'm cutting down on the time I spend updating to revise and catch up. Don't worry, I've now got a schedule. Brew should be updated once a week, on Fridays. However, I have got a lot of chapters ready, and I might be posting two at a time. And I've joined a forum.

* * *

Chapter 28

Stormpaw, RiverClan

After the two brothers had safely crossed with the kit, they started the long trek back. Around the edge of the gorge, up the steep track, across the edge of the gorge and up the river to the camp. Stormpaw sighed. It was going to be a hard walk, especially with his foreleg.

Streampaw glanced at him, concern in his blue gaze. "Are you alright with this walk?" he asked, gentleness in his gaze as he spoke. "We can always stop and rest if you need us to. We aren't in a hurry."

Stormpaw sighed, despair filling his mew as he spoke. "I don't know. Maybe?"

He looked away. "Just leave me." His voice was muffled as if he was speaking into his chest fur. "I'm just a burden."

Streampaw's voice could be heard from behind him as he spoke strongly. "No. I won't. We'll just have a few breaks." Hope filled his voice. It sounded as if he was trying to convince himself as well as Stormpaw.

Stormpaw shook his head. "You really should leave me. I can make the walk on my own, at my own pace."

"No! I said I wouldn't leave you behind and I won't. I promise."

The ferocity in Streampaw's mew shocked Stormpaw, and he was speechless for a second. Giving up, he let his head droop so he could see the ground beneath his paws.

"We're here." meowed Streampaw, nudging his littermate.

Stormpaw looked up and what he saw made his jaw drop open. Tall grey stone cliffs stretched up to the sky and small patches of dirt were wedged in the crevices of the rock. Bird's nests were built on bigger ledges and heather dropped over the cliff edge. The edges of the green grass of the moor hung over as well, speckling the edge with splashes of green. The sand stretched right up to the bottom of the stone, and a dirt path trailed up steeply, almost like a small hair of brown fur wrapped over the stone.

At the sight of the path Stormpaw's breath hitched. There was no way he could get up there. "I-I can't d-do this!" Stormpaw's voice stuttered with fear.

"Oh yes you can. If you can make it this far you can make it up a steep cliff walk that may potentially lead to your death."

Stormpaw was surprised. Streampaw looked at him seriously. Then Stormpaw's whiskers started twitching as he struggled to hold his laughter in.

"What? I was telling the truth!" protested Streampaw, his eyes glimmering with mischief and humor.

"I know, I know. I'm just laughing because- actually, I don't know."

"Let's just go on up." replied Streampaw.

Streampaw whisked in front of Stormpaw, and he padded close behind his golden and grey patched littermate. After a while, Stormpaw started to pant. Hiking up a steep trail with only three legs was hard. Streampaw glanced back.

"Are you alright? We can take a break." Worry flooded his brother's blue eyes.

Stormpaw shook his head, amber eyes wide as he took a peek over the edge, too worn out to speak. Streampaw looked back, but not before laying his tail on Stormpaw's shoulder.

They were three quarters of the way up when Stormpaw collapsed. "H-help." He wheezed, voice weak. "U-"

His mew was cut off as his head thudded to the ground, eyes rolling so only the white showed. "Stormpaw!" Streampaw's panicked yowl bounced off the tall grey walls that surrounded the three cats, echoing. Stormpaw began to roll, closer and closer to the edge. Eyes wide, Streampaw lunged forwards, trying to stop his brother from falling over the edge of the gorge and onto the hard sand below.

* * *

Hee hee. Cliffhanger! Do you think Stormpaw will die? Well, if he doesn't, there is someone who will die soon, some cat who is very close to Stormpaw, in a different way.  
You might have noticed that the chapter wasn't really in Stormpaw's POV, but I had to do that.


	31. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Streampaw, RiverClan

Streampaw's teeth met his brother's scruff and he tried to haul him back onto the trail. With the kit hanging on his back and Stormpaw pulling him forward, it was hard for Streampaw to pull Stormpaw up, and he only managed in scuffing his pads against the hard earth.

A silver and grey pelted body slipped in beside him, and helped him pull up Stormpaw. With a great heave, the two cats carried Stormpaw safely up to the dirt. Streampaw collapsed panting, and forgot all about the cat. He closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of soft dirt in his fur.

"Hey there." A melodical voice swam into Streampaw's thoughts and he blinked open his eyes, only to look into the most beautiful green irises he had ever seen. The shecat jumped back, startled, and Streampaw noticed how smoothly the muscles moved under the shecat's silver and grey coat.

"Hi. Did you help me stop my brother from falling off the cliff?" He meowed bluntly.

"Yep!" came the reply.

Streampaw was surprised by how unfazed this shecat was, considering that she had just saved a cat's life.

"Uh, I didn't catch your name?" he inquired softly.

"Can you speak up?"

"I said, I didn't catch your name!" Streampaw almost yowled. Instantly, he felt heat rise to his face.

"Oh, yeah. My name's Nettle Wing. What's your name?"

"Streampaw." he answered automatically.

"That's a weird name." Nettle Wing shot back.

"Well, so is Nettle Wing."

"Streampaw! Finally, we found you!" Minnowsplash's yowl of relief echoed around Nettle Wing and Streampaw, and rocks showered down the path as the silver-and-black shecat raced down to check on her friends. "Are you okay? Where's Stormpaw? Where's the kit?" Minnowsplash bombarded Streampaw with questions, and he responded just as fast. He was used to Minnowsplash's crazy explosions of questions, and was able to answer them quickly before she gave him more.

"Yep, I'm fine. The kit is here," Streampaw lifted his tail to reveal the brown and silver patched kit. "And," he hesitated before answering. "Stormpaw's here."

Stepping back, he let Minnowsplash see Stormpaw's limp body lying on the ground. Streampaw felt his heart wrench at the sight of his littermate's leg, hanging awkwardly to the side, with it bent at an odd angle.

"Stormpaw!" Minnowsplash gasped. Her light green eyes widened and she rushed over to him, nosing Stormpaw away from the edge. Stormpaw let out a groan, but didn't wake.

"What happened to him?" She inquired desperately. Streampaw opened his mouth to tell his close friend but was cut off by Nettle Wing.

"Who are you." Nettle Wing's voice was icy as she spoke.

"I'm Minnowsplash. I'm Streampaw's Clanmate."

Triumph lit up Nettle Wing's green gaze, but it was gone before Streampaw could check that it was actually there. It left his mind soon, though, as he watched Minnowsplash press her ear against Stormpaw's chest.

"Streampaw." Minnowsplash reminded him sharply.

"Oh, yeah. He found me, and when I woke up, he was lapping me, and he said that he had thought that I was dead. We came here, and he passed out, and almost rolled over the cliff if it wasn't for Nettle Wing here." He gave the silver and grey shecat an affectionate glance as he said her name, and she returned it, warmth sparking in her emerald gaze.

Streampaw wasn't sure for how long he was lost in her beautiful deep green eyes; he could have stayed there, looking into them forever, if Minnowsplash hadn't interrupted him.

"Streampaw, did you hear me?" Minnowsplash's tone was brisk, and jolted Streampaw.

"Uh n-no Minnowsplash." He confessed, bowing his head. But he still glanced at Nettle Wing from the corner of his eye.

"I said, let's go home."

* * *

I'm so sorry! I did this a bit late and it only occurred to me just now! Did you enjoy this chapter? Well, I hope you did! Now, time for a question.

QOTD: How long until your summer holidays? If you are in the southern hemisphere, how many weeks have passed since your Easter/Summer holiday? 

And something new:

Fact Of The Day: Did you know that Brew only came from a One-SHot book I happened to read on Quotev? Well, it was about four one-shots, and I named the characters in my mind. I wanted to make this happen, so I tried to find a place of time to write my additional characters in, and I couldn't. So I started this, and came up with the plot! I am forever grateful to that person who wrote that One-Shot, because they are the ones who started the whole of Brewing Storm and The Raging Storms!

Bye!


	32. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Springpaw, WindClan

(Tomorrow night is the Gathering)

The sun beat down on the grassy plains of WindClan's moor. Springpaw was in camp, in the den. In WindClan, where the land was the closest to the sky and stars, the heat was affecting them the worst. Springpaw rolled, trying to get the cool ground beneath her fur. "Grrrr!" she growled, the sound rumbling in her throat.

"Heat?" questioned Leafpaw, who was in the shadowy reaches of the den.

"Yeah." she replied loudly, almost yowling in exasperation.

Springpaw's fur was itchy with heat, and standing up, she stretched, trying to shake the sweat out of her short grey pelt.

"Yah!" The sound of the kits playing wafted through the interwoven stems of heather on a hot breeze. Springpaw glanced at her sister, a question in her eyes. "Just go. I was going to sleep anyway."

With that Leafpaw swiftly leant forward and licked Springpaw on the ear. The dark ear tips of Leafpaw pricked as she watched her green-eyed sister pad out of the den. A ruffle of fur told Springpaw that her littermate had tucked her nose under her tail. She stopped, her mind flicking back and forth between looking back at Leafpaw or not.

Springpaw took another step forward, feeling the burning sand under her pads as she stepped tenderly out of the cool shade of the apprentices' den. The sun beat down on her short grey fur, making her sweat, beads of liquid trickling uncomfortably down her body. Springpaw bowed her head, all reserves of energy generated in the den evaporating in the burning heat.

Narrowing her eyes, she glared upwards, careful not to look at the blinding blue sky that was free of clouds. No clanmate was out in this heat, most of them relishing in the cool dim of the weaved grass and heather that formed the dens. Heatherstar's violet eyes were just visible over the knoll of grass that hid the entrance to her den.

Ignoring the penetrating gaze that swept across her pelt, Springpaw shifted and started to pad towards the fresh-kill pile. She started hopping like a bunny across the grass, aware of her paws stinging as she tapped them lightly against the ground, trying hopelessly to get to the pile before her pads started burning.

When she reached the dip, she dashed into the shade of the overhanging boulder nearby, where the fresh-kill pile had been placed to stop the meat from rotting. Crouching, Springpaw fished her paw crookedly into the narrow nook, catching it several times on the invisible crags inside.

The hawk of an eagle surprised her, and Springpaw brought up her paw, forgetting the place it was in momentarily as she gazed into the silent sky above. The dark silhouette of the fatal bird of prey danced across the ground playfully. A feather drifted to the ground, yet Springpaw didn't dare to pounce yet. Soon, the circling eagle came closer and closer until it landed, tawny wings folding as it touched down.

Brown eyes stared hungrily around the clearing, sharper than a thorn, but only matched by the gleaming talons that were hooked into the ground. Skinny yellow legs trailed up into the bird's body, looking feeble compared to the treacherous claws that they harboured. The folded wings were coiled in hard muscle, covered up by the golden-brown feathers that coated the eagle. The dark, almost black beak was curved dangerously, tilted to the side as the head of the massive bird was cocked to the side.

With a jolt of fear, Springpaw realised that the gaze of the eagle was locked on her own green eyes. It took slow, taunting steps as it neared her, and Springpaw's hackles rose. It took all her might not to growl at the imposing creature, as she knew it would attack at the first sight of danger.

It glared at her, cruel happiness glinting in his eyes. The bird let out a squawk and opened his wings, beckoning her to attack him.

"Grrrrr…" Springpaw growled, her claws scratching marks into the stone beneath her. She could just make out the faint glimmer of a smirk flitting like a bat across the eagle's beak, and grimaced inwardly.

A squeal from across the clearing cut through the heavy silence the heat had caused, and both startled, Springpaw and the bird turned.

Whiskerkit, Sunkit and Stormkit had bundled out into the clearing, unaware of the fatal danger that lurked inside the camp.

Springpaw stiffened, and gave a quick glance at the tawny bird. It's eyes were focused on the kits, and Springpaw could see the muscles tense under the great wings.

Her heart pounded, and feeling the gust of wind ruffling her fur, she took off. A screech sounded from above, and Springpaw only pushed harder. The slaps of her paws against the burning grass was the only sound that could be heard as she tore across the clearing.

Suddenly a white-hot pain ripped across Springpaw's back as the eagle scored his talons down the grey shecat's back. She gritted her teeth and raced onwards, pelting up the small hill to the kits.

She grunted, and hurled herself forwards, crashing into the kits, and shoved them into the den behind them, blocking the entrance off with herself. She screwed up her eyes and could make out the eagle circling overhead. An irritated caw split the skies and the eagle flew away.

Springpaw staggered away from the entrance, her wound on her back stinging with pain. Stormkit tumbled out and sat down, his wide golden eyes watching her intently.

"You're bleeding." He chirruped, turning his head on the side so his ears flopped over. Springpaw stifled a purr, before settling down to clean her back. Then she noticed the blood trickling down from her paw. Springpaw frowned, thinking. She let out a sigh when she realised that she must have caught it when she raced to the kits.

She leaned over to nuzzle Sunkit before a hacking sound caught her hearing. She turned curiously, following the noise. Stormkit was behind her, his silver and grey fur stained red with the blood that came from his mouth.

* * *

AHH! I'm so super sorry! I realised on Friday that I hadn't updated but then thought it was Sunday the week before (don't judge) and didn't think! Anyway, what do you think will happen? Why is Stormkit covered in blood? Here's question of the day, and I'll answer it next chapter!

QOTD: What weather is it where you are when you are reading this chapter? (sorry it's such a bad question, but I had to think of one that I could answer!)

Bye, and see you next chapter! :)


	33. Chapter 31

YESSSSSS! It's finally summer here! And time for the next update! I didn't update last week because I had lots of tests coming up, so I had to prepare. Today (30.6.2017) is a half day, the type of day that only happens on the last day of term for my school! So, I decided to update a special two chapter post, and now, I'll update three or two times a week! Anyways, the chapter(s) is/are here!

Review

I-really-hope-not: I love the rain! But it can have its downsides and I think that is was storming when I posted the last chapter? About Stormkit, you're right, but it has a more deadly turn... whoops I think I gave a spoiler!

My answer to the Question of the Day. The QOTD was What weather is it where you are when you are reading this chapter? My answer is that it was stormy(or was it?Hmmm) when I posted, but it's a perfect sunny day where I live and it's very clear when I answer this now.

Check my profile to find out what days I'll be updating on this summer!

* * *

Chapter 31

Springpaw

She stared down at the silver and grey kit in front of her. Stormkit was coughing up clots of crimson- blood. "S-stormk-kit?" She asked, stuttering. Stormkit looked up at her, eyes dull. Springpaw could only stare at him, her head screaming at her to move, but her body not doing anything. She opened her mouth. Stormkit's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the ground, blood dripping out of his mouth, staining the dirt with crimson.

Who was the medicine cat? Springpaw struggled to remember as the shock settled in. Wispyfeather. "Wispyfeather! WISPYFEATHER!" She hollered. Springpaw had to get someone to look at Stormkit. Slowly, she backed away. "W-wispy-f-f-eather?" she stuttered, hardly able to tear her sight away from the kit in front of her.

Thank StarClan that Sunkit and Whiskerkit were tumbling away from the ghastly scene. Springpaw didn't want to have to block the view from the rambunctious and overly curious kits.

Soon, a flash of grey and silver fur not unlike Stormkit's own zipped into view. Wispyfeather skittered to a halt, breathing calm breaths and smelling of cool fragrances of herbs. Wispyfeather pushed Springpaw aside, muttering inaudible curses under his breath.

Springpaw turned, but her eyes stayed transfixed to the little kit. She tore her green orbs away, but not before catching the still in Stormkit's chest. Wispyfeather bowed his head, and drew his grey patched paw gently over the kit's head, closing the lifeless warm sun coloured orbs forever.

Springpaw's breath hitched in her throat. "He's gone." murmured Wispyfeather slowly, his voice a gentle hiss in the stifling air. "No, no, no! Why! StarClan, why!"

Springpaw turned and spotted Paleripple staring at her dead kit. Wispyfeather rushed up to her and licked her soothingly, whispering hushed comfort into his sister's ear.

A gust of wind signified the arrival of Patchpelt, and he looked at his son, eyes swimming with sadness. Springpaw could do nothing but look on as the family shared their grief for the kit, the eagle long forgotten.

"You're bleeding." The gentle mew of Flightpaw brought Springpaw back from her watching and the ginger and white tom licked her ear. Her best friend guided her over to the apprentices' den with his tail, where Springpaw collapsed into her soft nest. She could feel Leafpaw and Boltpaw looking at her with worry from the other side of the den where they had been grooming each other. She didn't care, and let the gentle embraces of sleep tug her away, Flightpaw's soft lapping soothing her to sleep.

* * *

Weird. I think FF's updated! I had strange spaces when I copy n pasted. Anyway, (I think I use that word a lot) I just noticed what a short chapter this is! I'll try to make the next one I write longer.

QOTD: How long is your summer holiday, when did it start, when does it end, where are you going? That's quite a lot, but really just tell me the details. Except where you live!

Have a great summer, and if summer hasn't started yet, I hope you will have a great summer when it starts!


	34. Chapter 32

The second chapter in the two chapter special! (once again late) I won't do the reviews as I will do them on Monday in the next update. So, here's the chapter. (That feels weird, not having an author's note at the start.)

* * *

Chapter 32

Springpaw, WindClan

A grey dawn broke over the territories of the Clans, clouds darkening the sky. The cats of WindClan stood with their heads bowed. Last night those closest to Stormkit had sat vigil with him for his last night, and this morning they had slowly brought him to his place of rest. Looking down on the silver and white body lying in the dry, crumbling ground, Springpaw could hardly stop the sobs bubbling up within her.

 _If only she had called Wispyfeather quicker…_

 _If only she had been quicker to go to the kits…_

 _If only…_

 _If only…_

 _If only…._

She couldn't stop herself from leaping forward and desperately trying to uncover Stormkit's body.

"Springpaw!" Wispyfeather cried.

She didn't hear him in her grief and continued to dig. Springpaw only stopped when she felt claws latch onto her shoulders and tug her back. She tried, scrabbling in the dirt, to stop them from pulling her away, but it was fruitless. She was hauled back, gasping, to the walls by camp. A tail was laid on her shoulder gently.

"It's okay, Springpaw, relax."

The shecat looked up, her eyes swimming with sadness and regret. Springpaw saw the strong figure of Hawkfeather looking down at her, smiling softly. She was surprised. Her and her friends had always thought that Hawkfeather was a slightly cold character, but Leafpaw had pleaded that on the inside he was a soft hearted cat. Springpaw supposed that Leafpaw was right, and nipped her tongue before she could laugh.

Brother of Wispyfeather, Hawkfeather was nothing alike to his littermate. Wispyfeather was slightly quiet, but a kind cat who could be strict when it came to it. Hawkfeather, on the other hand, was a cat who was a warrior, while his brother was a medicine cat. The warrior was also strict and didn't like to socialize that much, though he provided very valid points in an argument. Maybe he did have more in common with the medicine cat. They both did have kind hearts, and were quiet in their own ways.

"Springpaw, look at me." Hawkfeather commanded her to do so, using his tail to prompt her to face him. "It wasn't your fault that Stormkit died. It wasn't any cats'. He just got sick, and died. As much as I wished it hadn't happened, it did, and that's just the way of life. I have to accept it happened and move on. You do too. Actually, you do more than me." Hawkfeather chuckled a little at his joke before continuing.

"Maybe it could have been stopped, but then wouldn't Stormkit be in a lot of pain? At the very least, he is never going to be sick again, and will have a chance to meet his family. He had always wanted to do that."

Springpaw never knew that Stormkit had wanted to meet his ancestors. But then again, he had never been a very playful kit, always watching and learning, and Springpaw could easily think of little Stormkit playing in the paws of his ancestors, finally living his wish.

The older warrior looked very thoughtful as he looked up into the sky, where a single star was twinkling.

"Maybe that's him, looking down on us with all of his wisdom."

Springpaw laughed a little at that, picturing Stormkit with white whiskers and muzzle, and eyes that drooped with age. It did seem a little ridiculous.

Hawkfeather cuffed his paws over Springpaw's ears, laughing gently as he did so.

"That is no way to behave at a burial!" Hawkfeather mock-scolded. "Now listen closely, young 'un-"

Springpaw broke him off with a guffaw, and quickly slapped her paw over her mouth, giving a quick glance at the huddled group of grieving cats. Hawkfeather opened his eyes very wide, giving himself an innocent kit look,before sitting straight up and pointing a paw at the apprentice, mouthing it was her! frantically.

Springpaw pounced on his tail, feeling something strange.

"Let's go back into camp, before they notice us!" Hawkfeather hissed.

Springpaw trotted behind him back to camp, finally able to place her feeling. It reminded her of the days when Loudstorm was still alive, and played with them. Hawfeather felt like her father.

* * *

Who likes Hawkfeather? I do! I had pictured him as a strict, cruel warrior, but I guess he has a soft side. Like a stone teddy bear full of fluffy clouds. :)

Same QOTD, everything about your summer! Except where you live and personal information.

(0.0) Meet Owl. :) That was a random thing to put in. :)


	35. Chapter 33

New Chapter update time! It's a Wednesday, and I guess I have to answer the QOTD! But first, the reviews!

Reviews:

Yellow: Wow! That's a long summer! I'm glad you're having a great summer!

I-really-hope-not: I agree with the thunder and lightning. Out of the two, I find lightning more terrifying, the way it lights up the house and makes strange shapes. Where I live, the storms don't turn the sky black, unless it's a bad typhoon. I feel so bad about making Stormkit die, but he's probably happier in StarClan. Answering your second review, I think Hawkfeather's nice. And instead of being a time where you have nothing to do, you find your time full! I've been having a tough time actually writing Brew since all my time has been filled up.

And thank you to Starflower6, for favouriting my story!

QOTD Answer:

My summer's seven weeks long, starting on July 1st, and ending August 24th. I'm going to England, and visiting my aunt in Wales!

I didn't update on Monday because I posted two chapters, and I wanted to give you guys time to read. But here's the next chapter, and I'll be sure to update on Friday!

* * *

Chapter 33

Springpaw, WindClan

"-and," Heatherstar hesitated, her namesake eyes flickering over the available cats. "Flickerwhisk."

Springpaw let out a sigh of annoyance as she realised her name hadn't been called. She ran through the list in her head, searching for her name.

 _Heatherstar, Grassflower, Wispyfeather, Hawkfeather, Tallfoot, Wrenflight, Cloudflight, Rabbitkick, Raincloud, Flickerwhisk, Rockpaw, Starlingpaw, Leafpaw, Boltpaw, Whiskerstorm, Shootfire, and Hillrunner._

No Springpaw. In a way, she was relieved. She wouldn't be going to the Gathering with Wrenflight, Rockpaw and Starlingpaw. But she wouldn't be going with Hawkfeather, Raincloud, and a new friend, Cloudflight.

Cloudflight had been on some of the patrols that Springpaw and her brothers had been on. Surprisingly, the normally timid white shecat had protested against Starlingpaw's jeering. The warrior had told her sibling that the best warrior always is the one who is kind to all others. Starlingpaw had blushed; Springpaw had seen the pink glow through his white speckles under his cheek.

It was strange; noted Springpaw, that Cloudflight over the past few days had become a strong cat in the Clan, especially after Stormkit's death. It was only fair that the slim white furred cat would go to the Gathering. Springpaw mused over this for a bit longer, before deciding to grab a piece of fresh-kill and eat.

Springpaw hastily grabbed a starling off the pile before bounding over to the apprentices' den. Since the WindClan cats had buried Stormkit, the weather had cooled slightly, but the ground was still as parched as it had ever been. But the more frequent clouds gave hope to the cats for a rainstorm, though not a single drip of water had fallen yet.

She turned her thoughts away from the drought and focused on the bird that she was eating. It was a starling, of course. Starlings weren't that common up here on the windswept plains of territory, mostly found in the wooded lands of ThunderClan and ShadowClan. Springpaw narrowed her eyes slightly and noticed that the feathers had a slight green tinge to them that reminded her of moss that she saw near the ThunderClan border. The beak was quite long, and coloured the same as dandelions. The feathers of the prey were slicked back smooth, and were quite different from the feathered bodies of the birds that usually roamed the WindClan lands.

Springpaw began to hear raised voices from outside the walls of the den, and poked her head out to see what was going on.

There, silhouetted in the rising rays of the moon, was Heatherstar. Her violet eyes almost glowed as she called the patrol together. Springpaw had to remind herself that she wasn't going; she had been so sure! But she had to be content to stay at camp, maybe Heatherstar would choose her next time.

A rustle of gorse signified the leaving of the Gathering patrol, and except for the occasional breeze, there was nothing to show that there had ever been cats passing through.

Springpaw sighed and turned away, gnawing at the starling. Finishing it, she rolled over onto her belly and began to groom herself, falling asleep midway through a tongue lap.

It was dark inside Springpaw's dream; the moon was shining, but casting no light. As the clouds cleared, she could see a cream coloured cat standing in front of a black pool. A last cloud shifted, and in the break of light the cat was bleached silver by the pool water. A sparkling white tabby shecat with a silver belly walked up to the cream cat, draping her tail over the cat's shoulders.

Springpaw peered closer, and stifled a gasp when she saw it was Heatherstar. The leader was unaware of her, but as Springpaw shifted slightly, the StarClan shecat glared up at Springpaw, her intention clear. _Don't make a sound._

She nodded hastily, before backing away into the ferns, but keeping a close watch on the view in front of her.

"Heatherstar….' The starry cat sang in a high pitched voice, her mew a hum in the silence of the forest around them.

"Heatherstar…." Slightly louder this time, the cat called the WindClan leader's name. Springpaw noticed that she looked quite a lot like Pebblestar, the leader who had visited Springpaw in her dreams.

A small movement caught Springpaw's green orbs. Heatherstar was speaking, her voice frail and confused.

"But, but what does this all mean? Mistybelly, please…" The leader's voice trailed off as she stared at the water, obviously horrified by what she saw.

"Shush, it's okay. Now listen carefully…" The spirit cat's body glowed like the moon and stars combined and was wreathed in an unearthly white mist.

" _There is a storm coming,_

 _Within your Clans,_

 _Shaking your very roots._

 _Keep your Clan strong,_

 _And when the seasons change._

 _Watch for the star that glows in the day."_

With a puff, the mist vanished and the clouds covered up the moon once more. Springpaw watched, still as a stone, as Heatherstar spoke.

"Mistybelly! Wait! What does this mean?"

"You will find out when the time comes…" The StarClan cat's voice faded away as her presence disappeared.

Suddenly, screeches sounded from outside Springpaw's ear, and she hissed, hackles raised to attack anyone. Everything went dark and Springpaw woke in her nest in the apprentices' den.

But the screeches continued. She rushed out, and almost crashed into Harerunner. The warrior looked at Springpaw, eyes worried.

"What's happening?"

"Slidestep's kitting."

As Springpaw glanced pass her, she saw Hopheart frantically shredding grass with his claws by the camp wall. "Yeah, he sure looks worried."

"I'd be!" scoffed Harerunner. "She's been kitting for a while."

"Really? I only just heard her."

"Lucky! I've been kept up for quite a while now."

Springpaw tried for a different question. It was slightly boring talking about sleep.

"So, how many kits do you think she'll have?" The grey apprentice asked.

"Ah. Maybe about five or four? She's always been quite lucky, and Slidestep and Hopheart are quite nice cats in general." Harerunner frowned, eyes tilted up towards the sky.

Springpaw nodded her head.

"Well, what do you think?" pressed the warrior, prodding her gently with a paw.

"Oh! Around three. It's quite uncommon to have a large litter, and there are quite a lot of kits around, and more to come."

"What would you name three kits?" Harerunner looked genuinely curious as she watched Springpaw expectantly.

Springpaw hadn't thought about that. "Huh. I never really think about having a mate and settling down, but I think that will happen. Though I love being like this, free and without anybody to rely on me? I don't know how to show others how to understand it. It's something that I don't really understand myself, actually." She gestured with her paws, eyes narrowed slightly, and head tilted to one side as she tried to word it out. "I guess I just don't have it in me, but maybe if I find, you know, a great cat, I might? Everyone around me is always talking about having kits like it's the thing everyone is made to do, but I don't believe that. Do you get it?"

The young apprentice gave a throaty half-laugh. "I don't think you do. Not many cats do." She sighed and looked down. Something seemed to be missing. Springpaw twitched her ear, piecing together the puzzle in her mind. She opened her mouth to say-

"I think Slidestep's finished!" yowled Harerunner, jumping to her paws and twisting in circles.

Springpaw turned around, trying to find Hopheart, only to see the blankness of space where he once was.

Opposite the apprentice's den where Springpaw was lying, Wispyfeather stepped out of the den, eyes bright and fur sticking up. The green eyed shecat knew that he must have realised that Stormkit's death wasn't his fault. The medicine cat looked happier, and there was no outbreaks of the disease Stormkit had. It seemed like it was just a flaw in his health.

Harerunner was nudging her. "Want to go see the kits?"

Springpaw shook her head, feeling tired all of a sudden. "Nah, I'm going to go to my nest. I'll see them in the morning. I'm sure Slidestep'll need some rest."

"You underestimate yourself. You'd make a great mother." With that parting statement, Harerunner headed off.

Springpaw shook her head. No-one understood her. She stretched luxuriously, tail flourishing from side to side before she padded to her nest and curled down in the deep heather.

* * *

Did you enjoy the story? And here's Question of the Day!

QOTD: Do you have a pet? If so, what are their names?

I'll answer this one on Friday! Have a great day!


	36. Chapter 34

Hello again! If you've been reading Secrets of the Storms you'll know that I was going to update on Friday, but I changed it to Saturday because I ran out of time. But from now on I'll try to update on time!

For those of you who don't know about Secrets of the Storms, just click my profile and scroll to the bottom, and there you will see it.

Review:

I-really-hope-not: Wow! I can imagine living on the coast! It must be pretty when it's great weather! And I think that it must be pretty horrible having such big storms. It hasn't been raining at all this spring, just a few drizzles, but this week, every day it's been raining tons and tons! It's absolutely irritating when you go outside wearing flip flops and your feet get soaked as well as the place your feet rest on. It's the same with trainers, but they get soaked and squelch when you walk in them. My friend, she absolutely loves snakes, and the fact that you would like a corn snake just makes me think that you'd be best friends with her. I find snakes really scary, but beautiful. I find Springpaw's view the hardest to write from, but I think it's just switching character. And the fact that you like my story enough to follow it just blows me away! That took a while to write, but I enjoy it.

Thank you to I-really-hope-not and Arabella Star for following! And onto the chapter.

I forgot about this.

Previous QOTD: Do you have a pet? If so, what are their names?

My answer is: I do have a pet. Actually, I used to have two. One was a black Labrador named Marmite, who's currently thirteen. And the other was a golden pug named Genghis, who died at the age of twelve three years ago. But if I could have another pet, I'd have a hybrid silver Lab(brown and golden mix) named Sterling. And now, I can say onto the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 34

Springpaw, WindClan

It was the morning after Slidestep's kitting and the Gathering. Thinking back, Springpaw was pleased that she didn't go. She would've had to sit through Starlingpaw and Rockpaw's endless bullying, and would have missed Slidestep kitting, or having a conversation with Harerunner. It actually had been a while since she had talked to a fellow WindClan member other than her friends. Training was taking up quite a bit more time than she had expected. Not that Springpaw cared. After all, it would let her become a warrior, and she would be a great one too.

"Hey." whispered Springpaw, flicking her tail to Flightpaw's side. She'd missed him quite a bit that last night, but she suspected that it was because Flightpaw had been training with her more than Boltpaw and Leafpaw did. Normally, they would train all together, but more often than not, she would find herself training with her brothers or Flightpaw, and sometimes, Leafpaw and Boltpaw. Springpaw's sister had been training with Boltpaw, and Rockpaw with Starlingpaw. The mentors had matched them up, and thankfully, hadn't put any of the four friends in a pair with either Starlingpaw or Rockpaw.

"Hmm?" Flightpaw raised his head sleepily, ears floppy. His amber eyes were dazed, and he blinked it away, focusing on Springpaw. She felt a jolt of delight when he answered her.

"Do you want to go see Slidestep's kits?"

"Oh! Yes! I wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Really?" teased Springpaw. Flightpaw was giving himself a once-over, before he stood up and leapt out of the den. The pair accompanied each other to the nursery in silence. It was comfortable, with Springpaw's pelt brushing Flightpaw's with every step. She smirked, before shoving him aside with her shoulder and jumping into the dark den.

"Oh!" Slidestep was grooming herself, careful not to disturb her kits.

"Sorry!" whispered Springpaw, crouching down to lay next to the queen.

Flightpaw burst into the den, and immediately stopped when Springpaw shot him a warning glare. "Sorry!"

"That's the second time this morning someone's apologised to me." Slidestep reached over and nosed Flightpaw. "So, I take it you're here to see the kits?"

The two apprentices nodded vigorously.

"Move your heads even harder and they just might come off!" teased Slidestep in a light tone. Flightpaw and Springpaw grinned at one another before focusing back on Slidestep, who was glancing at them to see if she could start. Springpaw gave a small nod, though she doubted Slidestep needed it. The queen started whispering hushed mews to them.

As she did that, Springpaw noticed Hopheart behind her, watching over his kits with a warm glint in his eyes. Springpaw bowed her head, listening to his mate speak tenderly about their kits.

"This one is Thrushkit, and this one is Dapplekit." Slidestep pointed to a golden brown tabby shecat with white patches over her body, a white underbelly, chest, muzzle, and paws. Dapplekit was a pale grey, black and white patched tom with a chest of brown. Next Slidestep moved on to her other two kits.

"This one is Blazekit."

This kit was surprising. It had bright, bright golden fur, with hints of orange tabby. He had a white muzzle, belly and his tail was striped with bands of white, golden and orange. The only resemblance he had to his parents was the brown stripe he had down his face.

"Oh." was all Springpaw could manage, but Slidestep grinned, knowing exactly what the apprentice was thinking.

"Yeah. He was a surprise."

"I know why you called him Blazekit." mewed Flightpaw in an observant tone.

A light chuckle rippled through the nursery. "Just like the sun!" Hopheart laughed.

"And this one is-" Slidestep was cut off by Hopheart eagerly announcing the last kit's name.

"Dustkit!"

The small tom stirred, pale brown tabby stripes highlighting his darker coat of brown. Dusted with black, Springpaw could see what he was named after.

"Wow." she breathed. Flightpaw nodded beside her, eyes wide.

Dustkit was beautiful for a tom kit, and Springpaw could see a future of fawning for him.

"Well, we'd better go before we clumsy badgers wake up your kits." joked Flightpaw, backing away slightly and dipping his head.

Hopheart nodded, and Slidestep looked up, happiness easily visible in her eyes.

"Feel free to visit again!" she called. Springpaw nodded, and turned, stepping out into the camp.

* * *

I feel that every chapter with Springpaw in it always ends with her falling asleep or heading to her nest. But finally, a chapter that doesn't end like that!

Today I'm having a sleepover with my brother at my five year old cousins house, and I've found out that my other cousins are coming to England as well!

QOTD: If you could visit one country or place, what would it be?

I can't wait to answer this, so here's my answer: I would like to visit the Northern Lights in the North Pole.

This has taken an hour since I've been using my phone to do this, and I keep on hitting the wrong buttons! It also doesn't let me do shift enter! So ignore the weird set up because I've been using my phone, and my fingers are too big, and there are certain restrictions that make me want to smash my phone which is something I do not want. And I hope that no one will have the misfortune of this happening to them, so I wish you a great day! Bye!


	37. Chapter 35

Oops. I forgot to update. I know it's a Sunday, but I've had a very busy week and though I got the Secrets of the Storms chapter ready, I forgot to post it. But because I'm leaving my home country for a holiday, I'll have to update a day early, on Thursday. My father's birthday is on Thursday, and we fly that night. This past week I've been making his birthday presents, so that's a reason why I haven't had the time to update.

Review:  
I-really-hope-not: Sometimes, you don't get soaked through, but other times, it's like the place is flooding. It's so completely irritating that I might have to get some wellington boots to stop my feet from getting wet. I'll try to speak to my friend, and I'm pretty sure she'll love you. I've been to Canada; in fact I went on Easter. I've never seen the geese, but I startle really easily, so I guess that it's good that I've never seen them. I love Canada so much! It's breathtaking, the mountains. And I hope you enjoy this chapter! Lakepaw's view is very short this time, but I'm introducing a new view next chapter.

And onto the story!

* * *

Chapter 35

Lakepaw, ShadowClan

Yawning, half-asleep, Lakepaw rolled over.

"Oofff!" a gust of breath billowed past Lakepaw's cheek, ruffling the fur there. She sprung to her paws, shocked. Under her was Frostpaw.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there! I-" Lakepaw was cut off by a snigger from the other end of the den. Sleetpaw lay in her nest, looking perfectly groomed. Her blue eyes were sharp with scorn.

"Hah! You sleep so close to each other you can roll over each other?! What kits." she scoffed.

"Well, it's better than acting like your siblings don't exist except for you to bully Featherpaw!"

Immediately, Lakepaw felt her cheeks heat up. Sleetpaw looked shocked- saddened even? But before Lakepaw could double-check, Sleetpaw's scorning face was back.

"To bully her? Excuse me! Were trying to show her her place! She's been strutting around like a leader, and Icyfrost is only encouraging her!"

Lakepaw felt her claws slide out, and with a massive effort, she sheathed them again. _I can't believe that Sleetpaw thinks that I don't know how she treats Featherpaw!_ She felt anger bubbling up inside her, and words exploded out of her mouth.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not blind either! Your mistreatment of Featherpaw is actually obvious to those of us who you haven't tricked into thinking that you're angels! You frog brained cats-no, you don't deserve to be called a cat! I'll tell you what I think of you. You are-"

"Lakepaw! What are you doing!?"

Ice trickled down Lakepaw's spine. She turned around, and looked at Sleetpaw's mentor, Bubblefire. The normally happy ginger tabby shecat was furious. Lakepaw winced.

"Seedpelt!" Bubblefire called, face half-turned away. The cream apprentice's mentor appeared, brow creased.

"Bubblefire? What's-Oh, what did you do, Lakepaw?!"

Bubblefire glared at Lakepaw, before slipping into the den and crossing over to Sleetpaw. The warrior spread her long tail out over the apprentice, and none of the warriors noticed Sleetpaw's gleeful smirk at Lakepaw.

"What were you thinking Lakepaw? This isn't you." With that Seedpelt padded away, meeting the other mentor across the den and murmuring in her ear. The ginger cat nodded a few times, and at last, whispered something back.

Seedpelt leapt back across, but Lakepaw noted the expression on her face. The frown was still creasing Seedpelt's brown face, and her green eyes were narrowed in thought. _Maybe she's trying to think up a way to give me an easier punishment? I know I probably deserve a bad punishment, considering how I let my temper get ahold of me. But after all, Sleetpaw couldn't have tricked the whole Clan! There has to be one cat other than me, my sisters and Featherpaw, who know about Sleetpaw's bullying! But could she have managed to?_

Lakepaw frowned. Of course Sleetpaw hadn't managed to do that. But all of her siblings except for Featherpaw? It might have been a piece of cake for kits, but definitely not for apprentices. Annoying ones at that.

Lakepaw's mentor drew to a halt in front of her. A gust of wind ruffled the cream fur on the apprentice's cheek as her mentor exhaled.

"Lakepaw, I-" Seedpelt took another breath, starting again. Lakepaw studied her face, blue eyes thoughtful. She noticed a small pale scar arcing down from just to the right of Seedpelt's left eye, to under her nose, to her lip. It was so faint, and so well-hidden, that Lakepaw had never noticed it before.

"Lakepaw. Bubblefire told me how you nearly insulted Sleetpaw. You do realise that Sleetpaw, Crunchpaw, Icepaw and Featherpaw are my cousins?"

Lakepaw barely held back a gasp. The three idiots and Featherpaw were _related_ to Seedpelt? There was no similarity at all.

"Your punishment is-" Seedpelt gulped. Clearly Lakepaw's punishment was bad. The cream shecat squirmed.

"It is to tend to the queens, elders, and medicine cat's every needs for the next moon-" Seedpelt was interrupted by Lakepaw's frantic excuse.

"But-" The apprentice was cut off by Seedpelt stuffing her paw into Lakepaw's open mouth. The sentence that followed was muffled by her fur.

"As I was saying," Seedpelt shot Lakepaw a glare before continuing. "And, you are not to attend the next two Gatherings, and you are forbidden to go outside for a half moon without a request from one of the cats you are to tend to."

Lakepaw's mouth hung open. She was completely at a loss for words. Seedpelt glanced down at her feet, her paw successfully back on the ground once more.

"I know this seems to be a harsh punishment for what you did, but we can't let this happen. You talk to Featherpaw and give her tips, but whenever Crunchpaw, Sleetpaw, or Icepaw try to interact in any way with you, you give them the cold shoulder! Yes, you can have your dislikes about certain cats, or disagree with them, but blatant favoritism is not accepted."

Seedpelt brushed her tail lightly over Lakepaw's shoulder before padding out of the den, her lithe frame easily slipping through the entrance. Bubblefire and Sleetpaw followed suit, but the enemy apprentice couldn't resist one last jibe.

"And that, my dear Lakepaw, is why you shouldn't argue with the truth." Sleetpaw vanished outside, and the last thing Lakepaw saw of her was Sleetpaw's tail as she waved it in bidding farewell.

Lakepaw sat there, fuming. Frostpaw came up to her, and flicked her sister's nose with her tail. "You shouldn't have let yourself go. You knew that she twists everything that you do into something you can be punished for."

"But we'll teach you all the moves we learn in battle training, and all the new hunting techniques. We'll make sure that you don't fall behind. We're sisters, and we'll always stand up for each other." Duskpaw sat on Lakepaw's other side, curling her tail neatly.

"Duskpaw!" The cry sliced through the dry brambles of the apprentice's den, and following not long after was the call for Frostpaw. The two mewed a quick bye to Lakepaw, who replied half-heartedly. She waited a while before following them out to tend to the queens, before they started yowling. And with perfect timing. A yell sounded through the camp just as Lakepaw poked her head out of the den.

"Lakepaw!" Kinktail yowled. Lakepaw dashed off, pondering the idea of working hard enough to cut time off of her punishment. She could see Seedpelt watching her out of the corner of her eye, and felt pleased at the nod her mentor gave her.

" _Lakepaw!_ " the queen screeched again. The apprentice in question gulped, before tearing off in the direction of the yowl.

* * *

Well, how did you guys like that? Next chapter, you'll be introduced to a very, ah, young cat, who's also in ShadowClan, but I've been considering writing his view for a while. About this chapter, I had my brother proofread a tiny bit, but I haven't had time to properly do it myself, so I apologise in advance for any mistakes. And onto the QOTD!

QOTD: Who do you think the new character will be? Check the allegiances for help!

And next time, I'll try to update on time, I'll even start preparing tomorrow! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Bye!


	38. Chapter 36

Hello again! I'm pretty sure that this is late. It certainly is where I live! So today, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to give you guys the half I've already written, and try to post the next half tomorrow. And for those of you who read Secrets of the Storms, I haven't written enough for it to be considered a half of a chapter, so wait until tomorrow when I'll most likely have finished it. The reason why I haven't been writing is because I had an idea for another present for my father. It took hours but it's still not done. But, the flight I'm going on tonight is long, just a bit longer than 12 hours. So I'll have quite a lot of time to write, especially when I have to stay up to avoid jet lag.

Review Reply:  
I-really-hope-not: My father's birthday is the day I update this, and because he's turning an age that's quite event-making, he's having a party. Bad thing about that is that I have to remember all of the guest's names. There are more than you'd expect! I always get really irritated at myself for not making the truth come out. Problem is that it's i the plot for the next book, and I don't know when it's going to turn out. And, you guessed right! The next character is Cloudkit! That's actually kind of amazing. When I saw the review I asked myself whether I had sent some kind of chapter preview to you, but I now know that it's probably because Cloudkit is the only tomcat in the Clan at the moment.

And now, for the QOTD answer  
Previous QOTD: Who do you think the new character will be?  
My answer: It's Cloudkit!

I literally just wrote the last sentence. I popped onto the Google Doc and added it in. But now, the moment I think that you've been waiting for: now, onto the half chapter!

* * *

Chapter 36

Cloudkit, ShadowClan

After his mother's call stopped echoing around the camp, the cream apprentice appeared, skidding to a halt and dousing Cloudkit in a bath of dust. He gave an excited yip and bounced around, using his tail to smack most of the dust off of his sisters. The large tomkit was almost six moons, and he knew that Lakepaw and her sisters were ahead of the older apprentices, Sleetpaw, Crunchpaw, Icepaw and Featherpaw.

The three sisters were his idols, and he knew there was something off about the slightly older ones. Featherpaw was always separate from them, and Cloudkit didn't know why. His mother, Kinktail, was always telling him not to sniff around other cat's businesses, so he sensed that whatever created the rift between Featherpaw and her siblings was none of his concern.

Once the dust had settled, Cloudkit whispered in his sister's ears. "Hey. Do you wanna go outside camp? Eclipsepaw told me a way yesterday."

To his disappointment, Crystalkit and Shadekit didn't want to go. "Nuh-uh! We need to stay behind and make sure Kinktail doesn't realise you're missing."

Shadekit's answer was more definite. "No. Lakepaw might teach us some battle moves." She play-swiped at Crystalkit, and the two broke out in a mock fight.

Cloudkit turned to Sandkit. "How about you?"

Sandkit grinned, showing a perfect row of small teeth. "You bet yes!"

The tomkit bounded once, happy to have a partner in crime. Kinktail looked over, placing her paw on Cloudkit's bouncing tail. The kit fell to the ground with an audible thump. Sandkit winced, her black front paw reaching up to cover the smile spreading from her mouth.

"Cloudkit, what were you doing?" inquired Kinktail. She raised an eyebrow, grey eyes threatening.

"Kinktail, what did you call me here to do?" Lakepaw butted in. The black, grey and white patched tomkit looked up at her. She darted a quick grin in his direction before focusing on Cloudkit's mother once more. The apprentice even placed a creamy paw on the queen's shoulder, guiding her away from her kits.

Cloudkit shot a glance at Sandkit. The grey and black pawed shekit was positively bouncing with excitement. He looked back at Shadekit and Crystalkit, who nodded before racing off to Kinktail, falling and tripping purposefully on the way. The little tom grinned, before shooting off towards the dirt-place.

For a second, Cloudkit felt free, streaking across camp, the hot, still air whipping against his long fur. That was, until he ricocheted into a warrior's paw. Cloudkit groaned when he felt his hind paws come into contact with his shoulders. He'd managed to fold over once again. His tail curled in front of his nose, tickling it lightly. Cloudkit tried to hold in his sneeze, hoping that the cat who owned the paw wouldn't notice. But of course, he was wrong.

Teeth met in his scruff, and he was pulled up and placed down in front of the cat. Cloudkit's blue eyes were closed tightly, and he peeked out from one eyelid, curiosity getting the best of him. When he saw who lay in front of him, both eyes opened.

The cat in front of him was no other cat than Sapheart. The leader's mate, Sapheart was a very pretty shecat, with pale brown and dark brown and grey mixing itself together over her shoulders. The rest of her body was either a pale or dark shade of brown, or grey. Sapheart's right eye was covered by a splash of grey, and the rest of her face was pale brown, with a few puddles of dark brown thrown in. You could say that she was a calico, but with different colours.

But the most amazing thing about the queen was her eyes. Bright green, like the forest, her right eye was as bright as the catmint Cloudkit had eaten once, sneaking into Sprucestorm's den. But her left eye was a dark green, matching the colour of the pines that made up most of ShadowClan's territory and shielded their camp from enemies.

"Cloudkit, Sandkit, don't try to sneak out of camp."

Cloudkit was unaware of his sister behind him, and opened his mouth to answer when a terrific sneeze erupted. When the patched kit opened his eyes for the second time, he saw Sapheart's face in front of him, fur ruffled from the sneeze. He was dimly aware of Sandkit behind him, in giggles as usual. For a second he was confuddled. Who had sneezed? But as the world focused sharply, the answer appeared in his mind. It was him who had sneezed.

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry, Sapheart!"

The queen smiled, mismatched eyes soft. "It's ok. But _do not_ sneak out of camp. Your mentors'll take you. Who knows? You might have had your apprentice ceremony delayed."

It had never occurred to Cloudkit.

' _Maybe that's why Crystalkit and Shadekit didn't want to come.'_ he thought.

Sandkit nudged him. Cloudkit was jerked out of his thoughts, and he bounded after his grey and black pawed sister, making his mind up to talk to his two other siblings once they went back.

"Oomph!" Cloudkit tumbled into another cat for the second time that day. When he and the other cat stopped rolling, he leapt to his paws, horrified to find cream fur all over himself.

"I'm so sorry Lakepaw!" he apologized, again that day.

The cream apprentice clambered to her feet, her lithe frame smoothly moving from one action to another.

"I was showing Shadekit and Crystalkit a battle move. Do you two want to see?" she mewed, licking her paw and drawing it over her ear.

Cloudkit felt a strange stab of disappointment as he realized that Lakepaw was addressing both him and Sandkit. But he nodded anyway.

* * *

And there it is! The half chapter! I crack up every time I hear that. But I think that this full chapter is going to be quite long, averaging 2000 words. This half-chapter is 1000, so the part I have to write is going to be around the same. I haven't got enough time to do an ending note, so straight on to the QOTD

QOTD: Have you ever gone swimming before? What's your first memory of swimming?

Such a weird question. This I'll answer next post! Anyway, see you tomorrow when I (hopefully) will update again!


	39. Chapter 36 Part Two

Well, I finally updated! Yay! I've finally reached London, and have finally found time to actually write the rest of the chapter and type up this doc. Unfortunately, I've decided to delay the Secrets of the Storms update till Friday to give myself time to write. My day has been full of random activities and the only time I have to write is in the night at 7 to 8, or late afternoon. And it's still bright outside in the night! So, I'm going to make this AN really short(I'm going to try) so that I can read my book. Has anyone here read Artemis Fowl? I read the first book a year ago, and this month I've been reading there rest of them non stop. I just finished reading Throne of Glass, and am reading Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony. It's like the words finally decided to make sense and I love reading the AF books! But before I get too caught up in telling you about my reading, time to move on to the rest of the AN.

Review Replies:

I-really-hope-not: Those are some really nice parents! My brother hated the water, and would scream every time he touched the sand or water. But strangely, I love it! My first memory of swimming is not on a beach, but in a pool. And here's the next part of Cloudkit's chapter!

Now, QOTD!

Previous QOTD: Have you ever been swimming? What's your first memory of swimming?

My answer: I have been swimming, and my first memory of swimming is going to my cousin's house and riding a green dinosaur floaty in their pool. In fact, there's a photo of it in my home.

And now, onto the chapter!

* * *

Lakepaw led them over to a sandy spot just to the side of the camp boundary. Cloudkit knew why it was a great place for training. Sand meant that impact on the ground was softer and didn't hurt the cat training on it.

Muffled thumps echoed in the tomkit's ears and he knew instantly that they were made by Shadekit and Crystalkit. He craned his neck, stretching over his third sister to watch his littermates.

Cloudkit was disappointed when he saw that the two kits were just scuffling around. Lakepaw stepped forward and separated them before sweeping her tail in an arc across the sand.

It smoothened it effectively, and Cloudkit immediately straightened his stance, his ears pricked as Lakepaw began to talk.

"The move I'm about to show you is a basic one." the apprentice mewed. "Remember, there are building blocks to every move."

"First off, rear up on your hind legs." Lakepaw demonstrated, balancing easily on her haunches before dropping down to the ground. "It's harder than it looks. Seedpelt had to train me for a while until I mastered it." the cream cat sheepishly added on. Cloudkit could see the blush spreading along her cheeks before she started on the next instruction.

"Next, swipe. Try not to fall down!" Lakepaw joked. The patched tomkit waited for the last command, but the apprentice didn't offer one. Instead, she padded to the center of the sand, and surveyed the four kits, her eyes resting on Cloudkit last.

For once, the kit was pleased to have thick fur; it didn't let pink show through. Quickly glancing at his sisters, he saw that they were all at varying stages of success, but neither were as good as the warriors.

Shadekit couldn't even manage to stay on her hind paws for more than two heartbeats. Sandkit was able to stay on her feet, but her swipe wasn't that great, and if she stayed reared up for too long, she would fall over. While Cloudkit watched her, his partner in crime attempted a swipe, and the force of it sent her crashing to the ground.

He could barely hold in his purrs, and turning to Crystalkit, he expected the shekit to be the worst. But Cloudkit was in for a surprise.

Crystalkit moved with the fluidity and grace of a warrior, able to conduct the move in a matter of seconds. She even tested her swipe on a twig, and sure enough, it snapped under the force of her weighty blow. Cloudkit could see that she was working at her move, perfecting every aspect. He had even seen her trying it with her tail wrapped around her leg like the warriors did. But Crystalkit couldn't manage to stay in her feet if something came towards her legs.

Lakepaw had walked over earlier and tested that with her thick, creamy tail, waving it gently towards Cloudkit's sister's paws. As soon as her tail came close, Crystalkit panicked and dropped down onto four paws once more.

When Cloudkit's examination finished, he was aware of a pair of blue eyes burning gaps into his fur. So, gulping, he began his move.

To his surprise, balancing was easy; the tricky part was the swipe. A cat had to find the perfect amount of force to keep their paw from knocking them off balance. After what seemed like days of trying, Cloudkit finally got it. Though his move wasn't perfect, it was a rough version of what Lakepaw had demonstrated.

Dropping to his paws, panting, Cloudkit raised his head to watch Lakepaw. The cream apprentice slammed her paw down on the sand, a billow of the pale yellow grains rippling out.

"Ow!" she winced, bringing her paw back up again quickly. Cloudkit purred gently. It had become hotter and hotter, and it was harder for him to stay cool with his thick fur. Even now, he could feel his paws burning from contact with the heated sand.

"Well," began Lakepaw. "Now I'm going to help you improve. Shadekit," the cream apprentice sent a look in the shekit's direction. "Try focusing on something still in front of you when you rear up."

'That isn't that hard. There's no wind for things to blow in.' thought Cloudkit. Lakepaw moved on.

"Sandkit. Do the same as Shadekit, but when you swing, try to only move your leg, not your whole body. Keep your tail straight behind you."

The black pawed kit nodded sagely, before trying what Lakepaw had said.

"It works! It works!" she cried, beaming with joy. Lakepaw smiled at her before turning to Crystalkit.

"I've never seen a cat be able to do this move first go!"

The grey shekit shuffled her paws awkwardly, a pale blush spreading through her fur. CloudKit smiled at her, proud for his sister.

"Well, I watched the warriors do it and Bogleaf taught me."

Lakepaw nodded, and finally looked at Cloudkit. The patched grey, black and white tomkit stared at her, waiting.

She blinked, and jolted to a start. "Cloudkit, you're basically able to do it, but you need to practice. I noticed that you're not using your full strength behind the blow, so again, practice."

Raising her voice, Lakepaw spoke to all of them. "I'll come around to each of you to help."

The patched tomkit didn't realise at she had spoke, busy practicing. So when she came around to him, Cloudkit was shocked.

Lakepaw's breath ruffled the fur around his cheek and he was suddenly completely aware of her every move. Heat trickled up his back and when the apprentice's cream paw touched his swinging leg, he almost flinched away.

When he started to wobble on his legs, Lakepaw was there, supporting him. The next swing he did, he could feel her push him faster, one paw on his shoulder blade and the other on the lower part of his foreleg.

Cloudkit kept on practicing, feeling her cream fur brush against his. When Lakepaw left, he felt cold, her fur not heating him up anymore. The patched kit kept straining at the move, working harder and harder until he finally perfected it.

He dropped down to his paws, feeling strangely light. Stretching out his hind legs, Cloudkit watched Lakepaw as she slipped swiftly between his siblings, correcting their moves. Shadows shrunk as time passed, the sun slowly sinking towards the jagged lines of the tree branches.

Finally, Lakepaw stepped into the center once more, fur glowing gently in the fading light.

"I guess it's time to finish." the apprentice seemed to sigh. Cloudkit's sisters all bounded past, chattering quickly as they slid into the nursery. But the tom stayed behind, waiting for Lakepaw.

"I really enjoyed that. Can you teach us again?"

'Me again.' Cloudkit corrected silently. Hopefully.

"Yeah! I mean, I've got to take care of you for the next moon. So, yes. Hey, isn't it a moon until you four become apprentices?"

"Yup! I won't be staying in this den much longer." mewed Cloudkit happily. He noticed that he was almost as tall as Lakepaw and straightened slightly, his broad shoulders meeting hers.

"I'm looking forward to sharing the den with you." he added. Lakepaw's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't notice.

"Anyways, I hope you have a great day."

"Ermm, Cloudkit? It's sunset and I've got a whole moon of looking after the elders, queens and the medicine cat."

"Oh. Right. Good night."

Cloudkit padded off into the nursery, waving his tail at Lakepaw. He curled up in his nest and set his chin on his tail. His sisters settled down around him. As the moon rose higher into the velvet blackness of the sky, Cloudkit closed his blue eyes and slept.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that! It was quite hard finding the time to write, so it was published a bit late, but I'm starting to fall into a schedule.

QOTD: What's your favourite finished book on this site?

My answer will be revealed on Friday! I'll see you again next post!


	40. Chapter 37

I've been straining for time to write the chapter, especially since I've now upped the words to 1,000 per chapter. I didn't update the last two weeks, since we had guests every day. Did I update on the wrong day? I didn't! Today I updated! Yay! And it's a Friday! Double Yay! But as a result as a lack of time, there will be a small AN instead of a long one like usual. So onto the reviews.

Review Replies:

I-really-hope-not: Same here, but a series by InkblotLeaf is one of my favourites. It's called Blue Moon, and the difference between the first and last is incredible. Cloudkit's politeness isn't something that applies to all cats, though. If you haven't read her series, I highly recommend that you do. It's absolutely amazing!

Night whisker: I hope you read on, because I think that my writing gets much better after the first ten or so chapters. This is my first book on this website, and I hadn't planned this out. I actually spent the days I had free over the last weeks planning it out, so it would lead into the next book better. The whole idea of this is to improve my writing, and enjoy it. I know I didn't write that in the summary, but I knew that there must be plenty of people on this website with the same experience as I have writing a story, so I didn't put the fact that this was my first book down. I also ran out of space to put it down, and I don't think that the summary really shows what this book is about. I'm going to change the blurb/summary whenever I get to writing it. If you don't like reading this, I'm not going to stop you from not reading it. You can choose to stop reading it if you don't like it. I'm not going to stop you.

Now that I've finished answering the reviews, onto the QOTD reply!

Previous QOTD: What is your favourite finished book on this site?

My answer: I love the Blue Moon series, but I have got to say Snowfall16's Misty series. I don't have a particular one in the trio, but the improvement is amazing, and Snowfall's new book Take Flight I really enjoy reading. And I also loved The Frost Will Settle by cityskyliinee, and I'm enjoying reading The Cursed Ones and now The Blessed Few and So This Is How It Begins by her as well. Out of the unfinished ones, They Walk Alone by I-really-hope-not, and Weak instead of Strong by the same user

I'm a new user to this site, being on here for about four months or so, since the start of March, so I haven't really read that many books. But the ones I have read have been amazing!

Now, onto the chapter :) :

* * *

Chapter 37

Softpaw, ThunderClan

Softpaw was in a thick forest, a canopy of green above her head. Trees higher than anything she had ever seen before stretched up, and ferns clung to the bark, reaching out to the next branch.

Between her head and the leaves was space, completely empty with a lack of leaves. The forest was unlike the ThunderClan forest she knew and loved.

Light stained leaf green brightened the dim forest, yet it was still bright enough for her to catch a glimpse of a mouse tail in the corner of her violet eyes.

She crouched, balancing herself out, and began to stalk the critter. Fallen branches lined the ground, and Softpaw was careful not to let her tail tap anything, knowing a single sound could send any prey running.

The golden shecat crept closer and closer to the mouse. She could almost feel it's juicy flesh between her teeth…

"Softpaw!"

The cry echoed throughout the cavernous space above her, and she hissed.

Back in the real world, sleeping Softpaw reached out a downy paw to slap at her brother.

"I was about to catch a mouse…" the apprentice trailed off as she dived into the dreamland once more, searching for the rodent. But it was gone. Groaning, she lifted herself out of her nest and glared at Brookepaw through narrowed eyes.

"I was hunting! Arghhh! What did you even want me for?"

Brookepaw looked at her with a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. His green eyes flickered with amusement.

"Remember your promise?"

"Huh?" Softpaw was confused, mind moving slowly from the effect of the dreamland.

"You promised me you'd come with me to see the kits." Brookepaw blinked, shaking slightly on his paws.

'More like quivering.' corrected Softpaw. She inwardly winced. Her brother looked so happy that she couldn't stand to say that she had forgotten.

"Oh." was all the golden apprentice mewed.

"Well…?" Brookepaw arched an eyebrow, a smile tweaking the corners of his mouth up. It was infectious, and Softpaw couldn't help but smile back at him.

"What?"

"You need to come with me to see the kits. Forget that too?" Brookepaw was obviously teasing, but she still felt a sliver of guilt stab her. The violet-eyed shecat pushed it away. She owed her brother this.

"Yeah… Well, let's go!" Softpaw ran an eye over her pelt, and decided that it didn't need grooming. She leapt to her paws, and chased after Brookepaw, who had left so quickly that there had been a small breeze just strong enough to rustle some moss.

Once she had burst out of the den, she slowed, letting the heat of the sun war, her golden fur. Softpaw was enjoying having a short pelt, meaning that though she did feel the heat, she didn't feel it like her brother and sister did. But obviously, that hadn't stopped Brookepaw from shooting off like an arrow.

Softpaw stepped out into the direct sunlight. Immediately, she noticed the difference. Unlike the other days so far, touching the sandy ground was like touching fire. The heat burnt through her pads, and Softpaw shrieked.

Brookepaw stuck his head out of the nursery. His green eyes were wide with horror.

"Softpaw, are you okay?"

The shecat would've smiled at his face, except for the fact that she was blowing her pads in an attempt to cool them down. An idea struck her, and she moaned aloud at her stupidity.

"Go to the medicine cat's den!" A new voice yowled across the clearing.

Softpaw smiled almost invisibly before squinting out into the open. A small breeze had started up, and Softpaw backed into the shade before putting down her paws. A familiar brown head was sticking out of the nursery.

"Is that you Sparrowkit?" she mewed, the gentle wind carrying her voice easily over. She could just see the kit's head nodding. Softpaw turned, hopping away to the fern covered den full of shadows.

She slipped in. The soil was cool under her paws, but an undercurrent of heat ran along the center. The plants rustled, but the wind that blew it wasn't refreshing, or strong. It was a trickle, full of humid air that made the apprentice gasp for breath.

"Rainpaw? Is that you?" a musical voice, low in pitch, snaked out from the depths of the den.

"Errm, no. It's actually me, Softpaw, Silvercloud."

A medium sized dark grey shecat stepped out from the dark, dapples of shadows blackening her until she was just a shade lighter than night. Amber orbs twinkled in the half light, and Softpaw stepped into the single beam of sunshine that had managed to weave through the green fronds or the ceiling.

"Ah."

The den went silent for a moment, and Softpaw shuffled her paws awkwardly. She had forgotten why she had come here.

The shecat glanced up at the amber-eyed medicine cat. As Softpaw did so, her paw scuffed a stray rock, reminding her of what she'd come here for.

"Ah!" the golden furred apprentice gasped.

Silvercloud's clouded eyes cleared. "You came here to treat your burnt paw."

Softpaw looked up from where she was trying to scan her paw in the gloom.

"How did you know that?" she snapped.

Silvercloud grinned. "A deaf RiverClan elder could've heard you. Now come here."

The medicine cat started squinting at Softpaw's pad before she could argue. The apprentice wobbled about, feeling awkward with only three paws on the ground.

Tail waving around frantically to keep her balance, and constant hopping as she struggled to maintain her balance.

All of the jiggling and shifting made Silvercloud's job ten times harder, and she looked up only to get a mouthful of Softpaw's waving tail.

"Oh!" cried the owner of the tail, just realising what had happened. "I'm so sorry!"

The gray medicine cat just stood there, mouth overflowing with golden hairs. Her amber orbs were wide, and the look frozen on her face was comical. Softpaw couldn't help but purr gently, gulping the fit down.

One glare from that fiery gaze was enough to make Softpaw whip her tail out of the medicine cat's mouth and preen the saliva off of the strands.

"Anyways…" Silvercloud sighed. Then a mischievous idea floated into her mind. A smirk spread over her face as she gazed at the unknowing Softpaw, busy grooming her tail. Quick as a snake, smooth as water, the medicine cat flicked a paw out and grabbed the apprentice's burnt pad, held tenderly over the cool ground.

Softpaw's violet eyes widened in surprise a split-second before she crashed down into the ground. The golden pelted apprentice moaned, glaring up at Silvercloud, who grinned right back.

The medicine cat took the shecat and dragged her deeper into the recesses of the den.

Softpaw shrieked. "Brookepaw, go see the kits! I'm going to be occupied for more than I thought!"

A hum answered once the golden cat's yowl stopped echoing. Silvercloud was relentless, pulling the burnt paw with strength that equaled a warrior's. Softpaw stopped squeaking every time her spine hit a rock and started wondering how the medicine cat was this strong. All cats like them did was heal. In fact, the most strenuous activity Softpaw could think them doing was straining on the hindlegs to reach some herbs or climbing up the trunk of the tree to grab some leaves.

Silvercloud seemed to notice the absence of noise and glanced down.

"How are you this strong?" Softpaw blurted before she could stop herself.

The gray cat's brows raised, and then her face split into a grin. "That's a long answer you're asking for there. Do you really want to know?"

Softpaw mocked a confident pose- at least as confident as a cat could get being dragged over a cold rough surface, even if it was roasting hot outside.

Silvercloud took that as a yes. Softpaw knew as the medicine cat launched into her long reply.

"Well, y'see, when I was an apprentice, I was stubborn."

'You still are now.' thought Softpaw, rolling her eyes.

"And the old medicine cat, she wanted me to become her apprentice, because I was interested in herbs and stuff."

'Again. There's no such thing as stuff in medicine.' Softpaw stared at Silvercloud, who's amber eyes were looking at the ceiling.

'If you aren't looking where you're taking me, you will slam into a rock wall.' noted the apprentice.

"My siblings and I were stubborn."

'How many times have you said that?'

"Oof!" Silvercloud slammed into a rock wall, not looking where she was going. She cast an amber-eyed glare at Softpaw, as if it were somehow her fault. The grey medicine cat sat back and rubbed her paw at her nose, which had been squished by the wall.

'I told you so!' the apprentice thought gleefully. Upon noticing that the paw that had been holding her was now rubbing at Silvercloud's nose, she tried to sneak away.

"Uh-uh!" yowled Silvercloud, slamming her remaining free paw on Softpaw's golden tail. The apprentice's chin sammed down onto the grey ground and the excited expression on her face flipped to a scowl as she was once again dragged over hard pebbles.

"Anyway, before I walked into a rock wall," Silvercloud punctuated the sentence with a pointed look at Softpaw, who did her best to look innocent. "Wasn't I telling you about why I was so strong?"

'How in StarClan did you remember what I asked but don't remember if I asked?' wondered Softpaw.

"Yes! I was!" shouted the grey medicine cat joyfully. "My siblings and I, we were determined to become the best warriors ever. Being a medicine cat was not in the agenda."

'Oh, poor you. Why didn't you just suck it up?' the golden furred apprentice stifled an eye-roll.

"So, I sucked it up, and carried on with being a warrior apprentice."

"How did you end up a medicine cat then?" inquired Softpaw, but then she felt horror at blurting out her thought.

The amber-gazed shecat looked at her with suspicion, before deciding that it was an honest question.

"Until the day of our ceremony. The medicine cat was called in to help the leader with our names, and she blurted the whole thing out to Roaringstar! At the ceremony, I was named Silvercloud, but I was sent to the medicine cat den to learn how to be a medicine cat. I always practiced my old lessons, though. I don;t want to be caught off-guard!"

A chuckle accompanied this last sentence, and as the medicine cat fell quiet, Softpaw realised that she could see the fur on Silvercloud's grey pelt. Actually, it was really grey now, not dyed black by the darkness.

The violet-gazed apprentice looked around her, taking in the main den. It was better than she had expected.

To one side, a trickle of water fresh from a spring rolled down into a natural pool, where moss was sitting neatly at the edge of. Moss grew out of the cracks in the grey stone wall, and sunlight filtered in, lighting up the den. Many nests were dotted around, but there was a clear path that let the medicine cat drag Softpaw to the back of the den. It was riddled with shelves of stone, and the cold floor was covered in dirt that was hollowed from the roof, providing enough room for Silvercloud to stand on her hind legs and jump, conveniently solving two problems; the cold floor, and the cramped space.

On the shelves, herbs lay, organised neatly. Cobwebs were stopped from sticking by normal leaves, and in a corner, near the sunit gap, was an actual cobweb for emergencies. But now, with it still strung up, Softpaw could see dew sparkling on the fine, sticky ends. A spider was crouched half hidden in the shadows, supposedly sleeping.

Softpaw would have prodded it curiously if it hadn't been for her paw, which stung madly and she leant on it. Silvercloud was sorting through her herbs, and a few were already on the low, long shelf at the bottom.

"Thank goodness I had the kits come with me to collect some more herbs; I might've not had enough for you!"

Softpaw nodded, distantly, and was barely aware of the grey furred medicine cat slapping something onto her paw and binding it with a few cobwebs.

"-right, you'll be confined to camp for a few days, just to let it heal up."

Softpaw blinked, her ears snapping to attention. "Pardon me?" she mewed, half kidding. Of course she wouldn't be confined! She would just sit out of a few lessons.

"I said, you'll be confined to camp for a few days." Silvercloud peered anxiously into Softpaw's eyes.

"But why?"

"Because it's too hot, and you can't risk being burnt again and having your paw infected. You'd be crippled and unable to become a warrior."

Softpaw knew that the medicine cat was exaggerating for her sake, but she still couldn't help but moan softly. It was gave no justice to the shriek she was screaming inside of her.

Not seeing the green, green forest, cool with shade? Yes it was cool in here, but it would never match the forest. Not feeling the wind in her fur? She could just stick her head out of the hole. But it wouldn't match the forest.

Softpaw tried to convince herself that she would be fine, but it seemed that the world was collapsing around her.

"It's not that long, Softpaw." mewed Silvercloud quickly, her worried face scanning hers.

"Yeah. Not that long." Softpaw tried for a smile, but she knew that it turned out more of a grimace. She settled down and watched Silvercloud walk away, head bowed. The amber-eyed medicine cat was surely going to tell her siblings, and her mentor.

Softpaw rested her chin on her paws, and thought about Cloudsong's face when Silvercloud told her that Softpaw would be unable to leave camp for a few days.

The apprentice groaned and shoveled her head under her paws. It was going to be a long few days.

* * *

I just checked the Word Count, and this chapter was over 2,000 words! I guess that makes the length of time equal since it's so long. Anyway, my brother told me he had a surprise for me, and typed something in. It's really funny, and I wanted to post it here. This is it:

"LIKE TOTALLY I'L GO OUT ON A DATE POOPAW!" said a screeching PeePaw.

I took one look and burst out laughing! He's never read the Warriors series, and then he randomly wrote this in my story file! So, my QOTD will be:  
QOTD: What do you think of my brother's phrase?

I'll answer this next chapter, and I'm going to finally update Secrets of the Storms again!


	41. Chapter 38

Well, hello again! It's been how many weeks? Four, five, six? Sorry for that! I had this planned to publish on the first day of school for me, and that just stretched on and on, you get the point. School was taking all my time for homework. One good thing that came out of that was that I had lots of English homework, and we're back on the writing unit. I see no point on making me go back to school on the Friday because I only had one day and then it was the weekend. The next week was my first full week of school, and my cousins came over from another country! The next week, I had so much homework to do, and last week I was trying to revise for a science test, and was trying to gather the things I needed for a geo test and I was finishing off a large DT homework. The writing we're doing in English is crime, and I've been thinking about making a new story to do with crime, as there should be a story that I write about with crime in. The summer slipped by so fast! But honestly? I'm looking forward to next summer when I'm transferring to boarding school. I get such a long summer! But, I should really be positive that I got an extra day of summer because the younger years are introduced on normal starting day. I think that I actually update better when school is going on, because of a late violin lesson that gives me just over an hour to write. Anyway, I'm sticking strictly to the plan now, since I have one. I really love this chapter, because it's going to be very important for the ending. I'm going to TRY to cut down on how much I write on the ANs, but I think that might not happen. Now, before I start telling you exactly what I did in the past few weeks, here are the review replies!

Review Replies:

I-really-hope-not: This chapter may be funny, but to be honest it's been almost four or six weeks since I updated. So, I don't remember whether I meant to make the previous chapter funny or not, but I do remember laughing at the comments while I wrote them. My brother was convinced that it wasn't that funny, but I told him as soon as I got this review, and I guess that'll stop him from telling me that anything that I say is funny isn't. Sorry that this came so late. I had this all planned out, having it posted on the first day of school for me, but well, time passed quickly and I had no time to do any writing. But to be fair, this chapter was practically half done, 900 words or so. I just wrote the next bit.

And thank you to oXxWalkerofTheNightxXo!

And sorry to everyone who's been waiting for this chapter to come out!

* * *

Chapter 38

Redspring, ThunderClan

It was night. Silverpelt lit up the sky, diamonds scattered across a black blanket. The sun was long gone, and though the moon was unblocked, clouds faintly veiled stars.

Redspring slipped through the trees, heading towards the WindClan border. The russet tom was thankful for the waning moon, because without it, he wasn't sure whether he would be able to navigate through all of the trees.

Suddenly, his territory seemed to turn against him, and it was like everything in the forest was reaching out to him, trying to trip him over. But he kept going.

A warm scent wormed its way into the russet tom's nose, and he dropped into a hunting crouch. Slowly, carefully, he tracked the scent, keeping his tail high.

This past moon, it was like he had gone out of camp for the first time. Everything was more bright and colourful than he had remembered, and scents were sharp and easily identified. Redspring began noticing small, hardly noticeable details; such as the fact that when it was sunny, you could see the veins of leaves, and when there was a squirrel nearby, there must be a hoard of nuts, and so another squirrel there as well.

But the newest thing was that Redspring was having fun training Brookepaw. Especially today, when the green-eyed apprentice told him that he was really enjoying his training. And now that Softpaw was in the medicine cat's den for a few days, he had Brookepaw train in tree-climbing, as the apprentice wasn't as adept at it as Softpaw and Rainpaw were.

So far, this moon had been going great. He'd been picked for the Gathering, and instead of fumbling his catches like he used to do, he was able to kill them with a clean blow.

The reason for the change in the way he saw the world wasn't, strangely, training Brookepaw like the Clan thought- though he had been enjoying training his first apprentice. Maybe Blossomstar thought that being a mentor would wake him up from his strange, foggy world? It was actually thanks to the cat he was going to meet tonight.

Ever since he had tumbled into the cat at the border, it was like he'd woken from a deep sleep. It was like he had never properly seen the world before.

The mouse was just in front of him now, scrounging among the dry ferns for food. It hadn't noticed the large russet tom crouched behind it.

Sharp blades of grass were pressed down slowly as Redspring stepped about closer.

Just like ShadowClan and WindClan, ThunderClan were suffering from the heat. Leaves had dried and crackled under cat's paws when they walked, and grass had stiffened into thorns. Any streams or pools in the three Clans' territories had slowed down to a trickle, and in some cases, had vanished entirely.

Just today, Softpaw had burnt her pad stepping out into the uncovered centre of the camp. Silvercloud had confined her to the medicine cat den for the next few days.

Redspring held his breath, gaze focused on the mouse. He wiggles his haunches, and pounced. It was a short distance away, and the russet tom was able to kill the mouse cleanly.

He picked it up, the small critter hanging limply from his mouth, and started to run.

Redspring sped through the trees, heading for the WindClan border. When they had met at the Gathering, Raincloud had told him to meet her in three days, where they had met, but higher, just below the copse.

The russet tom altered his direction slightly, heading more to his left than to his right. One leap, and Redspring's paws landed on thin air.

The tom plummeted, arcing straight into StarClan knows where. The canopy of leaves had thickened considerably, switching the dilute black into the pure darkness of night.

His back thudded into a slope of dirt and rock, and the russet cat could feel his namesake red fur stripping away. Just before he was sure his fur would come off entirely, he slid to a stop. The border stream was in front of him, and moonlight reflected off of its surface, providing enough light for the tom to see where he was.

Redspring had leapt into a small gully, and had just slipped down the steepest side. He heaved a breath of annoyance, then realised with shock that the mouse was still in his mouth.

'Impressive, even for a ThunderClan cat.' he supposed.

Gathering his balance, Redspring stood, mouse hanging from his jaws. The big tom started making his way to the stream, passing fallen rocks and clumps of dirt.

His paws were in the water before he realised how near to the boundary he was. Trees looked on either side, and Redspring knew he was too far upstream, and would have to go through WindClan's copse.

But first, he would have to get up there.

Redspring swallowed, before splashing gingerly across the stream. Deeper than he had expected, he had to push himself off of the more shallow area and paddle frantically to reach the next boulder. Even still, he was pushed down further. His front claws stretched and caught onto the stones of the next shallows.

Redspring felt something snap. He felt nothing, a moment before the pain surged in. Biting on his lip to muffle a shriek, the ThunderClan tom brought his hind paws further forward, and propelled himself to the edge. Beyond him was the bank, and between them was a channel that seemed to have no end. Redspring wished he had had the foresight to cross the stream lower down, where it was merely a trickle.

'But then I would've had to cross all that empty space without WindClan noticing.'

Redspring sighed heavily, before pushing off the pebbles and pedalling frantically to get to the bank. "StarClan." he muttered. Gritting his teeth as he felt shocks of pain surge up and down his body, Redspring drew closer and closer to the bank.

Cold water would have been nice, but he didn't have that luxury. In fact, it was amazing that this stream was still flowing as deep as it was. All the other smaller ones had dried, leaving sticky, cracked mud at the bottom. Earlier that day, Brookepaw had asked him why it looked and smelt like dirt. Then the green eyes apprentice had jumped into the muddy hollow that still held water and splashed around. Brookepaw had then complained about how hot he felt with the sun, and the mud stopping him from releasing the heat. As well as that, he was now thirsty and had no wish to clean his pelt.

Apprentice and mentor had had to traipse all the way to the lake to find enough water to wash in.

Redspring finally landed on the bank, and hauled himself up the steep bank to the small copse that crossed the border. He took a deep breath, feeling the scents of ThunderClan and WindClan merged hit his nose. The smell wasn't strong; yet Redspring still recoiled.

'WindClan and ThunderClan do not mix well.' he thought, wincing.

The smell was like sour garlic and rotting ferns.

A crackle of a dead leaf echoed throughout the WindClan copse. Redspring froze, creeping as slowly as he could to the nearest ferns and sliding in without being seen. From his safety point he watched the scene in front of him. Nothing stirred in the copse, all the critters and creatures that normally made fresh-kill for him asleep. No bushes, leaves or grass blades rustled, and the canopy hid anything in the shadows. Redspring stepped out, feeling confident once more, but he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched out of his fur.

A burst of moonlight shot through the leaves, disturbed by a breeze far above his head. He spun, just in time to see grey fur and darker tabby markings fade out of his sight. The hiss of belly fur against grass made everything clear to Redspring. Whoever the cat was, it was obvious that they were hunting him.

He backed away. It had to be a WindClan cat; no other cats from ThunderClan would cross the border, especially not since the drought came. No rain and less water meant no agitating the other Clans; that spelled certain death.

The russet tom had frozen, thinking hard. Breath cascaded over his face, and staring into his own gaze was two eyes of deep lake blue.

* * *

Haha, a cliffhanger! As I think I said in the AN above, I especially like this chapter since it's going to help a lot with the plot heading towards the end of the story. Anyway, another new thing today:

It's World Peace Day! And the Equinox!

I thought it would be great to publish a chapter one this day because (not since it's two amazing things at once, and that everything is going to be equal only today, strange I never noticed that days and nights weren't equal...hmmm) it's World Peace Day! My school did a bunch of dances and we did the Macarena. Now, for TWO QOTD's! Yes, two. Two to make up for the update I missed.

QOTD 1: Who do you think is in the copse? (no checking earlier chapters ;-;)

QOTD 2: Can you guess what boarding school I'm thinking of in the UK? The colour is green, it's located near Gloucestershire, in a large town, and its initials are CLC. If you guess correctly(you can search it up...), I will try as hard as I can to get the next chapter out to you next week. Same with Secrets of the Storms!


	42. Chapter 39

Hi there! I'm sorry of the late update. As I said in the previous chapter, I tried to get this out on time as much as I could, but by the time I got home from my school trip, it was a Saturday and I was so tired I slept for ages. I put it on my profile the day before I left, but there wasn't much I could do on the trip, so I took this week to finish off the chapter. I'm going to write about a new cat for the next chapter, from RiverClan, and I'm pleased to say it's a 'she'. She's young, has two sisters, and is very curious about what happened to Stormpaw, regarding him as her model. So who is she?

Review Reply:

I-really-hope-not: That's so different to my school! Nobody really knows the Macarena, which is really strange because almost everyone in my year knows it! You guessed right...But there are a lot of schools in the UK with the initials CLC, but I guess without the colour green or any of the other facts.

The answer to the previous QOTD was:

Cheltenham Ladies' College!

Have fun reading this chapter! I dropped a pretty big clue in it for what's going to happen next in the story :)

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Chapter 39

Redspring, ThunderClan

"It's you!" hissed the WindClan cat. She had bowled him over and now the were nose to nose. Redspring would have scratched his head if he could do so.

"Ermmm, who are you? Why are you not chasing me off your territory?"

The shecat laughed. It sounded like a songbird, and triggered a memory in Redspring's head. He remembered that laugh from somewhere, but he couldn't guess where.

"Because you were meant to meet me here."

His attacker stepped back, and in a shaft of moonlight, her dark grey pelt scattered with black flecks. Her blue eyes suddenly clicked into place in the russet tom's mind, and he realised who it was.

"Raincloud." He whispered, the words no more than a breath in the midnight still air. The shecat beckoned to him, and he rolled into a crouch before padding softly over to her. The WindClan cat flicked him on the nose before breaking into a run. Redspring followed.

They darted between trees and though Redspring was a ThunderClan cat, Raincloud had been trained in this copse, and followed barely visible trails that the tom could only see because of his territory. The grey and black flecked cat sprang out of the ferns in front of him, and vanished from view. Redspring leaped when his paws brushed the ferns, but he wasn't expecting the log.

It lay like a large brown cat, marked with claw scratches and hollows. The russet tom couldn't slow as he soared above the ferns- and landed straight in the middle of the trunk.

"Whoah-whoah. Woah!" Redspring's claws couldn't find grip on the worn wood, and he started jogging backwards, desperate to get off of the bark. A cloud passed over the moon, and when it drifted off, the ThunderClan tom spotted a shadow-like form flitting over the slope. Raincloud.

As if a fox had reared out of the shadows behind him and pushed Redspring, the tom skittered forwards. He couldn't yell, for the fear that he would wake the WindClan camp, perched on a distant hill. It was a dark leaf among the green.

The russet tom felt a groan from under his paws, and a small rock slid away. Redspring couldn't help but roll his eyes at it as the log began to move, slowly at first, but then faster and faster as it gained speed and momentum until it was flying down the slope.

Redspring was sprinting backwards as fast as he could, and he wouldn't dare jump off, the ground was flashing by so fast. A lithe shape slid over the hill in front of him and into the surprisingly lush valley beyond. He panicked. He couldn't squash Raincloud! The russet tom glanced around, mind quickly contemplating the uses of a certain object before giving up and moving on to the next object.

The log jolted. Redspring was launched like a catapult over the crest of the hill, and plunged into the valley. Air span under his fur, and every fibre of his being was rippling with the strange heat. He could see the grey shadow of Raincloud rippling like water over the miniature hills. All of a sudden, Redspring saw what set WindClan apart from all other Clans. They could really _run._ Better than ThunderClan with their brambles and branches; better than ShadowClan with their marshes and pine needles; better than RiverClan with their reeds and puddles. WindClan had their open spaces, and that meant more to them than trees. Redspring could see the love Raincloud had for her moors, just as strong as his love for his trees that gave him relief from the relentless heat.

Unfortunately, Raincloud's speed meant that she was directly under him when he hit the ground.

"Oof!" All the air gushed out of the shecat's lungs. Her breath ruffled the fur on the underside of his jaw. Redspring held his breath, terrified of what remained of Raincloud. Steeling himself, he glanced down. He was greeted by a pink tongue that rasped on his cheek kindly. The ThunderClan tom's fur heated up, and Redspring was thankful for once that his pelt was russet and not a pale colour.

The grey shecat pushed him off her, and started padding towards a rise in the valley, mewing over her shoulder.

"That's where we're going tonight!" A sparkle of excitement lit up her eyes, and Redspring kept on seeing it in his head until he realised that he had to go after her.

The duo walked on in silence. Redspring didn't want to break this silence, as he followed Raincloud. It was a warm silence, which didn't help in this strange heat that was too warm for even greenleaf. The sound of crushing grass suddenly sped up, and the tom jerked his head up to see what was happening. Raincloud had crested the ridge in swift strides, and was poised to run, the moonlight silhouetting her fur, and outlining her figure in silver.

Redspring looked down again, not wanting to be paralysed again, looking at the WindClan shecat. He opened his strides up more, and caught up to his fellow cat as she stood looking over the open area.

It wasn't open, the tom reflected, more like cleared of the trees and winding vines that edged the grass. The stars could see the clearing, and the smell of ThunderClan and WindClan merging, a strong, yet sweet smell, like honeysuckle, was blown up and over the ridge. Stepping forward, Redspring could see the trees of ThunderClan swept out before him, steepled hills and rolling valleys as far as the eye could see. To the left, a faint glimmer of moonlight on the ever moving surface of the lake shimmered, caught in the watery mirror. Below the cliff edge, he could clearly make out the sound of the boundary stream chuckling as it passed through the overhang and into the stone.

Greenery surrounded the idyllic view, a tree's long branches sweeping the ground and creating the perfect place for a den. Moss grew on the tree, and already Raincloud was clawing at it, forming a bundle that she began carrying to a hollow between its roots.

Redspring padded over to her.

"What're you doing, building a nest?" He joked. Raincloud looked up at him.

"Actually, I am."

Redspring reeled back, slightly shocked. What was this nest for?

"It's for me, hare-brain." Teased the WindClan shecat. "I want to be able to sleep here. Not all cats like camp."

The russet tom nodded, padding back to the gap in the green and peering out at the ThunderClan territory that lay beyond. Some of the trees that made up the thick forest, even from here, looked to be dry and brittle, their leaves turned a sickly yellow. A wave of heat crashed over Redspring, and he fluffed out his fur, suddenly desperate to keep the heat away. It made him feel slightly sick, like he hadn't had enough water.

He padded away, soon finding a winding stream that was full of water. The stream tumbled over the cliff edge in the form of white foam. Unsurprisingly, the liquid pleasure was warm from the out of the ordinary heat. A terrifying thought wavered into existence in Redspring's mind.

What was going to happen if the heat continued?

* * *

Obviously, from the clue I gave you in the AN above, the QOTD is:

QOTD: Who do you think is the new narrator?

And a second one:

QOTD2: What happened to Stormpaw?

I'll see you on the next update of Brew! Bye! Oh, and Happy Halloween! ;) I love these faces. ;0 :) :0 ;) ;-; :)


	43. Chapter 40: Meet Her

Yeah...

 _ **I'M SO SORRY!**_

You guys deserve that apology. I've been buried under homework and though I haven't posted, I've started thinking about my commitment to this story. I really love the plot, and the characters that I think about in my head, but I think that my updating was not showing that. I actually thought about quitting this story! That was one thing that I thought would have destroyed my heart because I really do love this story. However I've been very active in a forum, and I know that isn't an excuse. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of stories I want to write, and I've been too busy to finish off the chapter I've been writing. What I thought would make my updating better would be to feel like I didn't have a deadline. I want to feel like writing is letting my feelings out, and I want to rewrite this story in another story later on. The first few chapters especially were rubbish. So here is the next chapter as a kind of apology bonus. Guess what? It's 3000 words! So, as a late Christmas and New Year, here's a chapter!

* * *

Chapter 40

Mintkit, RiverClan

Looking out of the den, lots of things were happening in the camp. Frozenriver, the medicine cat, was bustling about checking on all of the cats that had been regular patients in the medicine cat den. Her den was dark and shadowy, and even from here the kit could smell the sharp, cleaning scent. She sneezed. How could Frozenriver stand it?

One of the Clan's new warriors, Minnowsplash, was sitting in a half circle with a cat, probably an apprentice. Sagestrike, her littermate, was winking at the ginger and white shecat, who on closer inspection, the kit recognised as Brightpaw. Her brother, Streampaw, was by the apprentices den, cleaning his pelt. The other new warrior, a sleek grey shecat with green eyes that shone like ivy, was purring at the apprentice and licking him repeatedly. Streampaw blushed, and nuzzled her back. Minnowsplash's face contorted into a snarl.

The RiverClan camp was bustling, Mintkit admitted that. But not everybody was happy. Reeds chimed together, rustling in the breeze and scattering golden light upon the camp. The sky smiled down from above at the cats, and there were no clouds in the sky. It was a nice day.

But she could sense the tension in the camp. Ever since Dustkit had fallen into the river, cats had been on edge. Now, a moon later, Brightpaw and Streampaw has just completed their assessments, and she knew that their ceremonies were soon.

"Why does he like her? I mean, she's a rogue! Anyway, what do you think about her?"

"I don't know. She seems nice, but Nettle Wing's only been here for a moon. We don't even know if she saved Stormpaw! My brothers and you might have been blackmailed into letting her into the Clan! We don't know. But, she hasn't done anything. And Streampaw seems to trust her." Mused Brightpaw, casting guilty glances over her tabby shoulder at Streampaw. The apprentice was laying in the sun, Nettle Wing grooming him. Ever since she'd- supposedly- saved Stormpaw, Streampaw had been growing closer to her, noted Mintkit.

She toppled forwards, a shove between her shoulder blades unbalancing her. Mintkit looked back to see her sisters crouching sneakily with twin grins on their faces. Moonkit and Meadowkit were both grey and white patched, with Mintkit having black and silver tabby markings, and teal eyes that she shared with Moonkit. Other than their eyes, they were mirror images of each other. Mintkit, Twilightgaze joked, was the spitting image of her mother, with Moonkit scarily identical to Rustlefur.

"Go and speak to them!" Urged Meadowkit. "You've been watching them like a hawk for the past few minutes!"

Mintkit was about to reply that she hadn't.

"I'll come with you!" Moonkit exploded. The tabby shekit was bouncing on her paws, excitement lighting up her gaze.

Mintkit sighed. When her sisters wanted to do something, they did it. They were impossible to stop. But then again, it was what made them her littermates, she reflected. They were all different. That was what made them special.

"Okay! I'll go!" She sighed. "But only if you promise not to tell them I was watching them."

Meadowkit and Moonkit looked at each other and nodded.

"Let's go already! C'mon!" Moonkit leapt out, batting at the dangling vine as she did so. Mintkit followed, a black and silver paw thwacking the greenery with ease. Meadowkit just sprinted, low to the ground in her imitation of a WindClan cat. Mintkit let them get ahead, before leaping just like Stormpaw did before he saved Dustkit. She moved her legs as quickly as she could, speeding over the ground and catching up to her littermates swiftly. The method was working! Maybe it would work in the water as well. Mintkit doubted that. A cat using the technique would tire easily against the current. More powerful, sweeping strokes would move a cat forwards easily and quickly, with minimum effort.

She stopped suddenly. Her face heated up. She had crashed into another warrior. Again. Mintkit fell back. She facepawed.

"I'm so sorry. This is becoming a habit." She looked up into the eyes of Minnowsplash.

"It's fine," the shecat purred. "It gave me a shock though. I can't wait for your apprentice ceremony. It must be soon."

"Yeah!" Squealed Moonkit. The tabby shecat pranced around, tail raised. Mintkit realised with a jolt that her grey and white head was up to Minnowsplash's shoulder. So was hers!

"It's going to be in three quarters of a moon. We've been counting down! We can't wait to become apprentices, though Rapidkit and Ripplekit have already been practicing. Their ceremony is super soon. In a quarter moon, I'm guessing, or even sooner." Meadowkit leant even closer to the two shecats, Mintkit and Moonkit leaning in to hear, Moonkit strangely calm. "I think that their mentors are going to be Pikejaw and Bramblethorn."

"Maybe one of them could be me!" Mewed Brightpaw. "I'm about to have my ceremony. I really hope that I get a really good name, like-like...I don't know. I could be a mentor though. But Dapplesnow hasn't mentored anybody. She could definitely be a mentor. After all Mistheart had a apprentice, and she's Dapplesnow's sister. Though Dapplesnow was made a warrior later than her as Mistheart was an early warrior."

Mintkit watched the conversation with interest. However, the reason she had come here was niggling at her conscience. It became worse and worse, a worm eating away at a slowly molding apple.

"What d'you think of Nettle Wing?" She blurted. Moonkit stopped bouncing, and Brightpaw and Meadowkit and Minnowsplash stopped discussing which tom would make for the best mate with sentences literally dripping from their mouths. Mintkit noticed a subtle change in Minnowsplash. Her eyes narrowed, mouth tightening, and the kit believed that she could see a glint of light off ivory claws just peeking out of their sheaths.

Brightpaw cast a worried gaze at the warrior, whose green eyes had dimmed, and been light inside by a flame of fury.

"Well," she began. "She's not quite… Ermm… What is that word...Off?.. I suppose?.." Brightpaw was wincing with every word she said. The black and silver tabby glared at the shecat in question heartily before beginning.

"I think that she's trying to worm her way into the heart of the Clan. Streampaw's been fooled. She's a rogue! What do you expect? I think that she's the reason that Stormpaw got injured in the first place." Minnowsplash had leant in, her streamlined shoulders creating a small circle around the group.

An apprentice, a warrior, and three kits, mulled Mintkit. How strange.

"I'm not sure what I think of her." Meadowkit mewed thoughtfully. "But Mintkit has a strong opinion."

"That's why we came here in the first place. Other than all of the news from the Gatherings, I think!" Hissed Moonkit delightedly. As always, she was diving headfirst into action, bouncing on her toes once more.

Mintkit wanted to slap her sisters. Then again, they had helped her.

"So what is your opinion?"

Mintkit realised with a jerk that she had been asked a question. Minnowsplash had just repeated herself.

"Mintkit? She asked what your opinion on Nettle Wing is." Brightpaw peered at her, ginger and white tabby markings patterning her face. Mintkit gathered her thoughts, and laid them out on an imaginary smoothened surface in the ground.

"I don't trust the rogue. How do we know that she's trustworthy?" Started the kit.

"Exactly!" Minnowsplash cheered. Mintkit waited for her celebration to end before completing her thoughts.

"She hasn't done anything, good or bad. It's something we can't find more about unless we ask, which is something that would seem suspicious. Adding to that, Nettle Wing doesn't even bother to mingle among the rest of us. She sucks on Streampaw like a leech," Mintkit shuddered. "But he trusts her, and we should trust our own, so though we don't have to like it, we have to tolerate his decision, and help him if he's wrong. This is a problem until we find a way to find out more about Nettle Wing." Mintkit finished. The rests of the shecats stared at her. Brightpaw was the first cat to regain thought.

"Streampaw doesn't even trust me. I don't know if it's him I don't trust anymore, or Nettle Wing telling him not to trust me." Confessed the ginger tabby. Minnowsplash glanced around.

"That sounds right. I was too angry at Streampaw's foolishness to realise anything. But still, it doesn't change anything. We just know your opinion, and nothing else."

"I say we tell Willowstar." Meadowkit mewed gently. Mintkit barely heard her. For the first time, her sister's voice blended into the background cacophony of camp.

"We can't." Growled Brightpaw. The apprentice was frowning sadly at the ground. "We're in a position that if we do something, we won't have any evidence to back it up."

Minnowsplash sighed. "It's called a checkmate."

Mintkit stared at her. Did the warrior…. No. She wouldn't. The silver and black tabby warrior suddenly saw the strange stares her fellow cats were giving her.

"I met a rogue once, chased him off our territory. We were fighting, when he suddenly stopped and said we were in a checkmate. He explained what it meant, strangely enough, and that's the word I would use in this situation." Minnowsplash was squinting. Mintkit, tabby pelt shifting to match her pose, opened her mouth.

"Don't ask." Shot the warrior, not moving an inch.

"Okay…" Murmured the almost apprentice.

Moonkit was still bouncing around, just not that high anymore. The kit was virtually quivering, bobbing up and down in the sun. Mintkit had no idea how her littermate managed to keep cool. Even here, in the shade, Mintkit's tabby black and silver pelt was hot and sweat was slipping down her legs. It was so so...hot! She wanted it to cool down, and though the fish were many, basking in the heat, the cats had to be careful not to over fish. All the RiverClan cat's' thick pelts meant that they were often too warm for the weather. Every one of them wanted to go in the water, even water-shy Frozenriver. Sometimes, the kit could see heatwaves a tail-length away. They never went away.

Mintkit reckoned the kits had it worse of all. Their mothers would keep them inside in the hot and stuffy nursery den and they couldn't even go swim in the river when they were outside. It was tough. But she was counting down the days until she became an apprentice. It was so close! So tantalizingly close…

It was only three quarters of a moon away. That seemed like nothing compared to how long they had been stuck in the camp, watching the warriors trek through snow in her first moon, a time that seemed impossible to Mintkit now. Her second moon, the sleet came. They had been jammed in the dens for ages, itching to go outside and play. That was the hardest time other than now. The weather couldn't decide what season it would become, shifting from snow and ice to soggy dirt and dripping leaves the next. Whitecough had spread throughout the Clans, and the herbs weren't growing well thanks to the regular cold snaps. Finally, her first newleaf came around. It was amazing to be outside then. It was the time she had wanted to be an apprentice the most. All the new, exciting, fresh smells other than the sharp, clean tang of snow. Shoots popping up all over camp, and new kits to play with. Mintkit and her sisters had gone to sleep many nights before that time, hungry and knowing that the rest of RiverClan were hungrier. They had been chilled, but had not been shivering in the heat of the nursery. Newleaf brought the thawing river and plenty of new, replenished fish which gave them energy to play outside. Her fourth moon passed, fifth following in the heat of greenleaf. Now, all of a sudden, she was going to be leaving the den she had known all her life as her home to move to the apprentices' den, where should would get to swim in the river and learn to fish and hunt and climb and swim and other countless things. She was ready for it.

"All cats able to swim gather round the Waterrock for a Clan meeting!"

Mintkit's head snapped up. She had no idea what it was. But something nagged away at the corner of her mind. Brightpaw was on her paws and runnning quicker than the kit's mind could comprehend. Certainly much faster than the other RiverClan cats. Moans sounded around the camp, but the black and silver tabby knew that her Clanmates didn't mean anything. It was extremely hot. In the corner of her eye, Mintkit saw a flash of gold and grey in the sun.

Streampaw was in no move to get up and to the Waterrock. Nettle Wing was purring at him, a small smile on her elegant grey face. Mintkit felt a surge of aggression. She was treating Streampaw like a leader! Not even a leader, a StarClan blessed leader! Mintkit couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. Even with what had happened by the river bank, Streampaw had the nerve to take his time going to the Waterrock. She was dreading what would happen when Streampaw was given his name. He would have the freedom to do and be whatever he wanted to. Mintkit sprang, paws lightly tapping the ground, over to the draping willow. It was the one place where, near enough to the river and the tree that the air was slightly cooler. It was too bright for her liking though. The sunlight reflected off the water and caused the area to be so white that going into the open seemed like the inside of the den for how bright that area was. Mintkit sat, facing the Waterrock and shelter where Willowstar's den lay, in a hollow in the tree. From two openings, Willowstar could come out of her den and in. Using the primary entrance, she could access the camp and her nest. But the second one, it was higher up in the willow. The leader was able to leap onto the Waterrock by tensing their legs and leaping from the narrow platform the hollow led out onto, padded by dried mud and wood and leaves, and leap onto the Waterrock.

The Waterrock had been by the tree for ages. No cat knew how it had got there, only that it couldn't be moved. The sparse soil that the willow grew from was from the patch of soil that led underground to the dirt source that lay under the thin layering of stone. Sheltering the entrance, was the Waterrock. It was a opal shaped, elipsis like rock, with a flat, weather and paw shaped top. It seemed slightly slippery, but when Willowstar leapt on it she never seemed to lose her balance, every time. Almost every cat was gathered around the rock, excluding the cat(s) who were in the medicine cat den. The pale furred leader had picked the perfect time. Mintkit could see the ferned fringes of the den nearby, spotted through the gaps between the gathered RiverClanners. It was an old river tunnel, hollowed out by a rogue stream over many season-turns. A careful mesh creation kept the herbs kept in the tunnel safe from the river beyond the opening. Above the tunnel, the entrance was a secondary den, edged with overlaying lush water plants.

Willowstar cleared her throat, catching Mintkit's attention. The kit admired how her leader looked, sitting with her chin up, defying everything that faced her. To her, the RiverClan leader was the most powerful one of all. But, she supposed, that was how the leaders were meant to look. Willowstar's luminous tabby markings rippled across her fur like waves on the river, or the river reeds in the wind. Mintkit's own pattern resembled patches of thunder clouds on a silvery, mist-filled day. Actually, now she thought of it, they were rather like Minnowsplash's. The kit wondered if they were related. After all, Sagestrike was silver. If the two new warriors were related to her, they must be through their mother. The only resemblance they held to Rustlefur was Sagestrike's white, but they didn't have the same markings whatsoever.

Looking into Streampaw's blue eyes, Mintkit felt only slightly less mad at him as rippling in the depths was a fish's scale of guilt. Nevertheless, the soon to be warrior stepped up to the Waterrock's edge with his head held high. Brightpaw at least had the decency to keep her tail low, but the kit knew that what had happened in the falls wasn't the siblings' fault in the slightest. But she did feel that Streampaw was the one more responsible for it, though she reckoned, it was more what their actions were towards the incident than what their actions were during it. The apprentices deserved their ceremony. Nothing that they had done had influenced the event.

Looking at the duo now, the tabby felt as if they weren't related. That there was a missing piece, something not quite right. Somecat not there. It was as if there was a ghost of an outline of a cat that should have been there with Brightpaw and Streampaw, but wasn't. There was a space between the two that would, normally- before the event at the falls- have been filled, would have shown that the two were siblings, and that they weren't just strangers who were having their ceremonies at the same time. That the three of them would have always have stuck together, through everything and anything, and they would have been at each other's sides whenever one of them needed the others. Now, looking at them, Mintkit felt that the remaining cat had been tugged away, ripped, from their trio that now, was a duo with the feeling of something not quite being right.

Willowstar, as she stepped up to the pinnacle of the rock, had a watery glint in her eyes. Everything about the ceremony felt off. Mintkit knew that Brightpaw and her brother deserved this, but she wasn't against the idea of putting it off for another day. But she knew Willowstar would go through with it. What had happened at the gorge that day was in the past. Now, it was time to go into the future.

"I, Willows-star," the shecat paused, steeling herself for this. Mintkit could see the struggle in her posture as she fought through the sadness and spoke the words that another cat should have been here to hear. "I, Willowstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors, young and old, to gaze down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and have fought through the most tough of times. I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Though there should have been another here today, I speak with pride as I look at these fine apprentices.

"Streampaw, Brightpaw, do you promise to uphold the code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Streampaw swallowed. Mintkit could see his threat bobbing as he opened his mouth. "I do."

Brightpaw practically squealed, "I do!"

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Streampaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Streamtail. StarClan honours your bravery and selflessness and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan."

"Streamtail! Streamtail!" Mintkit found her voice joining with the Clan's, howling one name over and over until Willowstar cut through the air with her sleek tail.

"Brightpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as-"

"Stormpaw's awake!"

* * *

So, a bit of a cliffhanger there! I didn't want to mention anything about what had been going on in the text, or it would've ruined the surprise at the end. But I also didn't want to say anything about my problem with uploading until I finished. So, here's everything:

\- I was drowned in homework  
\- My teacher changed her mind, making me and everyone else in the class do two tests when all the other classes are doing one  
\- ECA's like being really irritating and they like holding concerts that require time  
\- I had an amazing Christmas break! I went skiing and all, for the first time I stood on a lake (it was frozen) and I fell in love with Canada!  
\- My cousins and I shared a house, and I had a lot of fun during Christmas with them (another cousin thought we didn't change timezones and faceted us at 3:00 in the morning)  
\- When I came back and had free days, I was really missing Canada and was doing homework I had left last minute  
\- I lost interest but then gained it again  
\- I kind of found a new YouTuber and now can't stop watching it  
\- It's miserable outside and that means that I lounge around eating chocolate and reading books  
\- I kind of borrowed a million books from the library and couldn't stop reading or borrowing  
\- School is tomorrow when I thought it was the day after

Yeah and that's it! Well, and

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 2018!

I hop you all had amazing Christmases and enjoyed it wherever you were. I'm putting up my resolutions on my bio so you can check it out.

Well, QOTD!

Answer: Well, as you must have seen above, it is Mintkit! I love her!

And the second answer: Everything about Stormpaw will be revealed next chapter.

QOTD1: Did you like this chapter? Do you think it's long, perfect, or short?

QOTD2: How was your Christmas? What was your favourite gift and did you have a family gathering?

Another thing. I'm holding off on Secret of the Storms. I also can't find the reviews, as my Mail is stuck and won't open. But I'll have that fixed for next update, which hopefully will be in two or three weeks!

One last thing. I may be writing a new story. I don't know. Can't decide. So, goodbye for now, and I hope that you have an amazing NEW YEAR!


	44. Chapter 41: Everything About Stormpaw

Hahah! Look! It's been less than two months! I had so much fun writing this, and I did have a while when I couldn't write because I didn't have any ideas for the chapter. But here it is! 2,000+words!

QOTD Answer: I think I'm going to keep the chapters this length, and for the second QOTD, my favourite present was a jacket from Canada, and I went to Canada and saw my aunt, and a cousin's family. I had so much fun! I met a group of people and we became friends over a few days, and we are keeping in touch as much as possible. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!:) (By the way the lines are still acting up)

O~O

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Chapter 41

Mintkit, RiverClan

Brightpaw tore away from Willowstar, who was standing there, mouth drooping open. Streamtail turned, and the clearing went silent. The ginger tabby apprentice hurtled past Mintkit, hope gleaming in her blue eyes. Her brother glanced at Nettle Wing, something shimmering in his gaze. Something that he had refused to live, to kindle a fire inside him, because Mintkit knew that what had happened to Stormpaw was something that had never happened before.

A while ago…

 _Sashaying pawsteps sounded, accompanied by the sound of sliding. A strange new cat burst into camp, and quickly, Mintkit's mother rushed to cover her and her siblings. Moonkit and Meadowkit whispered to each other while she peeked out. The cat had eyes the colour of ivy, and gazed around the camp with awe in her eyes. Her hackles raised. This was RiverClan's camp! It was_ hers. _What was a filthy rogue doing here? Minnowsplash appeared on the cat's other side. Blinking, the kit took another look at the new warrior. Ruffled with anxiety, the silver and black shecat resembles an apprentice who had just fallen into the water after getting dry. But something else flickered in the tabby's gaze. Something that Mintkit couldn't pinpoint._

 _Streampaw stumbled into the camp. Following him was Stonefur, and dangling from the tom's mouth was Dustkit. She had never seen the patched apprentice look so depressed, and her heart jumped into her mouth when she saw what Dapplesnow and Mistheart dragged. A limp body. Stormpaw._

 _Twilightgaze gasped, and under Mintkit's paws, she felt her mother's tail tremble. Out of the apprentice den came Brightpaw, and the kit's heart broke when she saw the ginger tabby shecat's smile shatter. The world was falling out from under her paws. The apprentice took a trembling step, pausing and blinking at the sky as if what she was seeing was a mirage. Mintkit couldn't have prepared herself for what happened next. The apprentice dropped to her stomach, and issued a faint mewling sound._

" _S-s-storm-mpaw?" She mewed. Her voice broke, and Brightpaw dropped her head to her paws, watching her brother with a burden the weight of the world pressing on her shoulders. Mintkit wobbled, legs quivering at the rustling in th elder's reed den. Stepping out, fragile legs shaking, was Ashheart._

" _What's going on," purred the grey tom. "I may be an elder, but even I can tell that-" the elder's voice stopped as he saw Stormpaw. Mintkit wanted to become a small kit again, to huddle behind her mother and never have seen this as the tom, grief pooling in his golden eyes, sat down. "Stormpaw?" His voice, usually bright with cheekiness, was like a leaf in the torrent of the falls, higher than it usually was. The tom swallowed. Behind him stepped Lilyripple. She opened her mouth, and spotted Stormpaw, her words dying in the open air. She bent down to Ashheart and murmured quietly to him. The tom started wailing._

" _I can't lose him! Not after Ferndew. Not after_ Goldfire _! StarClan, why!?" Stormpaw's father scrunched his eyes closed and rose gingerly, making his way down towards his kit, tail brushing the sandy earth. More and more warriors came out, each coming towards the apprentice and Ashheart and Streampaw._

 _Frozenriver, already at Streampaw's side, guided him to the veiled medicine cat den and let him rest there. She hurried back to Stormpaw's side, where, if Mintkit squinted, the tom was still breathing. The white cat massaged his belly, working her way down, trying to find out the problem with the apprentice._

 _It was a while before the medicine cat moved him to a large nest just inside the shelter of her den and splinted his broken leg with comfrey and herbs. Since then, no cat had seen Stormpaw's eyes. He'd never woken up. And, Frozenriver had warned them all, may never again._

The silence filled the camp, like sap from a tree, broken up by hushed whisperings not just from the cats around her, but the whole of the Clan. This silence, it wasn't the same as the one that had beared down on her when they had all waited for Minnowsplash to return from her search for the brothers, the one that had felt like it was crushing her tail. It was one that lifted weight from her shoulders; one that she never wanted to end. It was the same kind of feeling she felt when she woke up early and saw the slips of mist wreathing the camp in its own ethereal silent world. When the sun came up, it was like a trail of blood mist, lightening into purest gold. No cat was awake, and she had been content to just sit there, watching the water vapour dance with the sunlight and leaves. Mintkit continued her watch on the medicine cat's den, alert for any signs. Shockingly, a head poked out of the entrance, scaring the life out of the kit. She exhaled sharply, calming her racing heart.

Frozenriver's face was split into a beam as she gazed up at her sister. Willowstar returned the smile, swiftly whipping through the swarming cats to tap her tail on Ashheart's shoulder. The tom sprang to his paws, showing a liveliness Mintkit hadn't seen since-since, well, Minnowsplash had brought back Stormpaw. The elder letting the tabby shecat murmur in his ear, didn't take his penetrating yellow eyes from the fronds of the medicine cat den. It was as if he could see whatever went on behind that blocking foliage. But, Mintkit supposed, even StarClan blessed cats couldn't do that. Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to see through the solid dirt and ground that sheltered the main den under the surface.

Ashheart hurried past her, so close she felt her tabby fur ruffle. Streamtail was right on his heels, the gray rouge ever present at his side. The elder strode straight into the den. However, Streamtail paused in front of it. Mintkit frowned. The Streamtail she remembered from almost two moons ago would have ran in there faster than you could say 'mouse'. He turned his blue gaze, so very like his father's own, on Nettle Wing. She purred, Mintkit's fur rising as she heard with perfect clarity, even from where she was, what the rogue said back to the tom. Faltering still, the newly named warrior took one step, then another, and another, until he was on the threshold of the den. With one final glance back at the shecat, he walked in. Nettle Wing turned away, padding elegantly over to the nearest patch of grass where she started to groom herself. Mintkit walked forwards. A tail brushed against her shoulder, and she almost leapt in the air at the feeling of the fur against her spine.

"Woah, Mintkit! Aren't you jumpy?" Joked Minnowsplash. The kit looked up at the sleek tabby warrior. She didn't know why her look alike had come up to her.

"Hah. That's nothing compared to Brightpaw," a barrage of purrs had risen from the den, and Mintkit could have sworn that she saw the ferns shaking in the face of Brightpaw's delight. "Have you ever scared her?"

Mintkit noted the wicked grin that slashed across Minnowsplash's face as she said the sentence.

"Actually, I have!" Smirked the shecat. "And oh, I could bet a moon's worth of dawn patrols, she could have been heard from across the lake!"

Mintkit tried to hide her sniffle, but at the thought of Minnowsplash jumping out at the ginger and white apprentice and the amount of noise Brightpaw must have created made her burst out into heaving fits of laughter.

"Imagine how angry ShadowClan must have been, their prey fleeing off and their trees shaking."

"Just like how you are now!" Minnowsplash responded, giving her a poke in the belly. "I can't imagine how much sound _you_ would make if you're this loud now! What about when you're an elder! You'd be destroying the world!"

Mintkit looked over at her, and snorted.

"What, like how you are now? I'm surprised no cat has left you at the bottom of the river yet. But, I guess the fish would swim away just to get some peace."

Minnowsplash stared at the kit. For a second, she thought that she had gone too far. But then, the warrior's marking etched sides began quivering. The warrior burst out into purrs that racked her from tail to nose.

"Hahahaha!" Gasped the shecat. "I haven't heard anyone say that since I was a kit!" Then warriors wiped her face clean of mirth, leaving Mintkit staggered at how easily the warrior had done it.

"But really Mintkit. Why are you so jumpy?"

Mintkit shot out, "She's such a good actress." She saw Minnowsplash's face morph from one expression to another. "I mean, she must have used her looks to her advantage. I'm not even sure that she's consciously tricking Streampaw- I mean Streampaw- I mean- Gah! It's so hard to keep track of names!"

Minnowsplash nodded. "I know!" Her expressive face changed again. She looked at Mintkit face on. Shadows darkened her eyes. "But back to Nettle Wing. Whatever you do that involves her, _don't_ get drawn into her web. I know her eyes may look like catmint, but her eyes are ivy. Just like the plant. They draw you in and don't let go until they poison you."

Mintkit fell silent, watching the den that had Streamtail in. The sound of fur rustling came from it, and as she watched, Frozenriver bounded out. A few words passed between the white medicine cat and Nettle Wing. The tabby kit couldn't hear them, but she could see their mouths moving. A small breeze ruffled her ear fluff, and she twitched them, only to hear Minnowsplash's footsteps heading away. Mintkit supposed that the warrior wanted to eat. _I wonder if I could see Stormpaw? Well, what do I have to lose?_

The kit followed Nettle Wing. Her paw pads prickled. _Why was_ she _going in there?_ The kit wondered. Mintkit had no idea, but trailed the medicine cat and the rogue anyway. As she stepped under the cool fronds, trickling warm water onto her spine, Mintkit saw ahead of her.

Limp grey patched fur hung over the side of a frehsly changed nest. Mintkit supposed that Frozenriver had just been changing the bracken fronds when she noticed Stormpaw waking up. Lifting her head a bit further and stepping forward, she saw the tom with his head hanging over the side of his nest, Brightpaw grooming his matted head. But as Mintkit narrowed her eyes for a better view, she noticed that something was off. Stormpaw's yellow eyes were dull, limp, as if they had had all the happiness taken out of them. Before, his eyes had been golden with life, always noticing, filing away, watching. But now his eyes were foggy. He didn't seem the same. Mintkit guessed that when he was in his pause, as the medicine cats called it, life had gone on. His brother was a warrior, and at best, he would need roughly three more moons until he would take his warrior assessment. But then, she was not as apt at medicine as Frozenriver was.

Off to the side, looking on, was Streamtail. His blue eyes were shadowed; something that Mintkit couldn't see darkening them. Nettle Wing slipped up to him, sliding out of the shadows. Her green eyes glinted in the stifled light, and her sleek, thick tail flowed like a river behind her. As always, the fine mist that told Mintkit that there was something off about the rogue hung around her in slips and shafts. But this time it was stronger. It darkened her pelt like thunderclouds, and made her eyes gleam viciously in the center of the storm. Nettle Wing started whispering in Streamtail's ear, and a smile slowly made its way onto her face. Mintkit realised that Minnowsplash was right.

Her eyes had the same colour as ivy, not catmint. But ivy doesn't let go. It poisons.

O~O

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HAHAHAH! I want to have a short author's note, so here's an announcement:

I am going to start another book soon. I have two or three ideas, one being Dripping Ice, the sequel to cityskyliinee's the Frost Will Settle, and another being one that I've just come up with about the three kits of Apledusk and Reedshine, just after Mapleshade's Vengeance is set, called an Apple in the Maple's Tree.

So, I hope that you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it, and I'll see you next time!


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